Sensor cleaning devices and systems

ABSTRACT

Sensor cleaning devices, methods, and systems are provided. Output from sensors of a vehicle may be used to describe an environment around the vehicle. In the event that a sensor is obstructed by dirt, debris, or detritus the sensor may not sufficiently describe the environment for autonomous control operations. In response to receiving an indication of an obstructed sensor, the sensor cleaning devices, methods, and systems described herein may proceed to remove the obstruction from the sensor.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the benefit of and priority, under 35U.S.C. 119(e), to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/424,976,filed on Nov. 21, 2016, entitled “Next Generation Vehicle,” the entiredisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference, in itsentirety, for all it teaches and for all purposes.

FIELD

The present disclosure is generally directed to vehicle systems, inparticular, toward electric and/or hybrid-electric vehicles.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, transportation methods have changed substantially. Thischange is due in part to a concern over the limited availability ofnatural resources, a proliferation in personal technology, and asocietal shift to adopt more environmentally friendly transportationsolutions. These considerations have encouraged the development of anumber of new flexible-fuel vehicles, hybrid-electric vehicles, andelectric vehicles.

While these vehicles appear to be new they are generally implemented asa number of traditional subsystems that are merely tied to analternative power source. In fact, the design and construction of thevehicles is limited to standard frame sizes, shapes, materials, andtransportation concepts. Among other things, these limitations fail totake advantage of the benefits of new technology, power sources, andsupport infrastructure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a vehicle in accordance with embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the vehicle in accordance with at least someembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a communicationenvironment of the vehicle in accordance with embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the instrument panel of the vehicleaccording to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a communications subsystemof the vehicle;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a computing environment associated with theembodiments presented herein;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a computing device associated with one ormore components described herein;

FIG. 8A shows an obstructed sensor associated with a portion of thevehicle in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8B shows multiple obstructed sensors associated with a portion ofthe vehicle in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9A shows a graphical representation of sensor information detectedby a first sensor of the vehicle over time in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9B shows a graphical representation of sensor information detectedby a second sensor of the vehicle over time in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9C shows a graphical representation of sensor information detectedby a third sensor of the vehicle over time in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 shows a graphical representation of compared sensor informationbetween sensors of the vehicle in accordance with embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 11 shows a graphical representation of compared sensor informationbetween sensors of the vehicle in accordance with embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 12A shows a schematic view of imaging sensor information detectedby an imaging system of the vehicle at a first time of travel inaccordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12B shows a schematic view of imaging sensor information detectedby an imaging system of the vehicle at a second time of travel inaccordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12C shows a schematic view of imaging sensor information detectedby an imaging system of the vehicle at a third time of travel inaccordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13A shows a schematic view of obstructed imaging sensor informationdetected by an imaging system of the vehicle at a first time of travelin accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13B shows a schematic view of obstructed imaging sensor informationdetected by an imaging system of the vehicle at a second time of travelin accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13C shows a schematic view of obstructed imaging sensor informationdetected by an imaging system of the vehicle at a third time of travelin accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of a first method for detecting an object on asensor surface of the vehicle in accordance with embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of a second method for detecting an object ona sensor surface of the vehicle in accordance with embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 16A shows a schematic view of a sensor cleaning system of thevehicle in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 16B shows a schematic view of a sensor cleaning system of thevehicle in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 16C shows a schematic view of a sensor cleaning system of thevehicle in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 17A shows a schematic plan and front view of components of a sensorcleaning system of the vehicle in accordance with embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 17B shows a schematic plan and front view of the sensor cleaningsystem of FIG. 17A in a first cleaning state;

FIG. 17C shows a schematic plan and front view of the sensor cleaningsystem of FIG. 17A in a second cleaning state;

FIG. 17D shows a schematic plan and front view of the sensor cleaningsystem of FIG. 17A in a third cleaning state;

FIG. 18A shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a sensor cleaningsystem and sensor of the vehicle in a first cleaning state in accordancewith embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 18B shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a sensor cleaningsystem and sensor of the vehicle in a second cleaning state inaccordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 18C shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a sensor cleaningsystem and sensor of the vehicle in a third cleaning state in accordancewith embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 19A shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a sensor cleaningsystem and sensor of the vehicle in a first cleaning state in accordancewith embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 19B shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a sensor cleaningsystem and sensor of the vehicle in a second cleaning state inaccordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 19C shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a sensor cleaningsystem and sensor of the vehicle in a third cleaning state in accordancewith embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in connectionwith a vehicle, and in some embodiments, an electric vehicle,rechargeable electric vehicle, and/or hybrid-electric vehicle andassociated systems.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a vehicle 100 in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure. The electric vehicle 100comprises a vehicle front 110, vehicle aft or rear 120, vehicle roof130, at least one vehicle side 160, a vehicle undercarriage 140, and avehicle interior 150. In any event, the vehicle 100 may include a frame104 and one or more body panels 108 mounted or affixed thereto. Thevehicle 100 may include one or more interior components (e.g.,components inside an interior space 150, or user space, of a vehicle100, etc.), exterior components (e.g., components outside of theinterior space 150, or user space, of a vehicle 100, etc.), drivesystems, controls systems, structural components, etc.

Although shown in the form of a car, it should be appreciated that thevehicle 100 described herein may include any conveyance or model of aconveyance, where the conveyance was designed for the purpose of movingone or more tangible objects, such as people, animals, cargo, and thelike. The term “vehicle” does not require that a conveyance moves or iscapable of movement. Typical vehicles may include but are in no waylimited to cars, trucks, motorcycles, busses, automobiles, trains,railed conveyances, boats, ships, marine conveyances, submarineconveyances, airplanes, space craft, flying machines, human-poweredconveyances, and the like.

In some embodiments, the vehicle 100 may include a number of sensors,devices, and/or systems that are capable of assisting in drivingoperations. Examples of the various sensors and systems may include, butare in no way limited to, one or more of cameras (e.g., independent,stereo, combined image, etc.), infrared (IR) sensors, radio frequency(RF) sensors, ultrasonic sensors (e.g., transducers, transceivers,etc.), RADAR sensors (e.g., object-detection sensors and/or systems),LIDAR systems, odometry sensors and/or devices (e.g., encoders, etc.),orientation sensors (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometer,etc.), navigation sensors and systems (e.g., GPS, etc.), and otherranging, imaging, and/or object-detecting sensors. The sensors may bedisposed in an interior space 150 of the vehicle 100 and/or on anoutside of the vehicle 100. In some embodiments, the sensors and systemsmay be disposed in one or more portions of a vehicle 100 (e.g., theframe 104, a body panel, a compartment, etc.).

The vehicle sensors and systems may be selected and/or configured tosuit a level of operation associated with the vehicle 100. Among otherthings, the number of sensors used in a system may be altered toincrease or decrease information available to a vehicle control system(e.g., affecting control capabilities of the vehicle 100). Additionallyor alternatively, the sensors and systems may be part of one or moreadvanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) associated with a vehicle 100.In any event, the sensors and systems may be used to provide drivingassistance at any level of operation (e.g., from fully-manual tofully-autonomous operations, etc.) as described herein.

The various levels of vehicle control and/or operation can be describedas corresponding to a level of autonomy associated with a vehicle 100for vehicle driving operations. For instance, at Level 0, orfully-manual driving operations, a driver (e.g., a human driver) may beresponsible for all the driving control operations (e.g., steering,accelerating, braking, etc.) associated with the vehicle. Level 0 may bereferred to as a “No Automation” level. At Level 1, the vehicle may beresponsible for a limited number of the driving operations associatedwith the vehicle, while the driver is still responsible for most drivingcontrol operations. An example of a Level 1 vehicle may include avehicle in which the throttle control and/or braking operations may becontrolled by the vehicle (e.g., cruise control operations, etc.). Level1 may be referred to as a “Driver Assistance” level. At Level 2, thevehicle may collect information (e.g., via one or more drivingassistance systems, sensors, etc.) about an environment of the vehicle(e.g., surrounding area, roadway, traffic, ambient conditions, etc.) anduse the collected information to control driving operations (e.g.,steering, accelerating, braking, etc.) associated with the vehicle. In aLevel 2 autonomous vehicle, the driver may be required to perform otheraspects of driving operations not controlled by the vehicle. Level 2 maybe referred to as a “Partial Automation” level. It should be appreciatedthat Levels 0-2 all involve the driver monitoring the driving operationsof the vehicle.

At Level 3, the driver may be separated from controlling all the drivingoperations of the vehicle except when the vehicle makes a request forthe operator to act or intervene in controlling one or more drivingoperations. In other words, the driver may be separated from controllingthe vehicle unless the driver is required to take over for the vehicle.Level 3 may be referred to as a “Conditional Automation” level. At Level4, the driver may be separated from controlling all the drivingoperations of the vehicle and the vehicle may control driving operationseven when a user fails to respond to a request to intervene. Level 4 maybe referred to as a “High Automation” level. At Level 5, the vehicle cancontrol all the driving operations associated with the vehicle in alldriving modes. The vehicle in Level 5 may continually monitor traffic,vehicular, roadway, and/or environmental conditions while driving thevehicle. In Level 5, there is no human driver interaction required inany driving mode. Accordingly, Level 5 may be referred to as a “FullAutomation” level. It should be appreciated that in Levels 3-5 thevehicle, and/or one or more automated driving systems associated withthe vehicle, monitors the driving operations of the vehicle and thedriving environment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 100 may, for example, include at leastone of a ranging and imaging system 112 (e.g., LIDAR, etc.), an imagingsensor 116A, 116F (e.g., camera, IR, etc.), a radio object-detection andranging system sensors 116B (e.g., RADAR, RF, etc.), ultrasonic sensors116C, and/or other object-detection sensors 116D, 116E. In someembodiments, the LIDAR system 112 and/or sensors may be mounted on aroof 130 of the vehicle 100. In one embodiment, the RADAR sensors 116Bmay be disposed at least at a front 110, aft 120, or side 160 of thevehicle 100. Among other things, the RADAR sensors may be used tomonitor and/or detect a position of other vehicles, pedestrians, and/orother objects near, or proximal to, the vehicle 100. While shownassociated with one or more areas of a vehicle 100, it should beappreciated that any of the sensors and systems 116A-K, 112 illustratedin FIGS. 1 and 2 may be disposed in, on, and/or about the vehicle 100 inany position, area, and/or zone of the vehicle 100.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a plan view of a vehicle 100 will be describedin accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. In particular,FIG. 2 shows a vehicle sensing environment 200 at least partiallydefined by the sensors and systems 116A-K, 112 disposed in, on, and/orabout the vehicle 100. Each sensor 116A-K may include an operationaldetection range R and operational detection angle α. The operationaldetection range R may define the effective detection limit, or distance,of the sensor 116A-K. In some cases, this effective detection limit maybe defined as a distance from a portion of the sensor 116A-K (e.g., alens, sensing surface, etc.) to a point in space offset from the sensor116A-K. The effective detection limit may define a distance, beyondwhich, the sensing capabilities of the sensor 116A-K deteriorate, failto work, or are unreliable. In some embodiments, the effective detectionlimit may define a distance, within which, the sensing capabilities ofthe sensor 116A-K are able to provide accurate and/or reliable detectioninformation. The operational detection angle α may define at least oneangle of a span, or between horizontal and/or vertical limits, of asensor 116A-K. As can be appreciated, the operational detection limitand the operational detection angle α of a sensor 116A-K together maydefine the effective detection zone 216A-D (e.g., the effectivedetection area, and/or volume, etc.) of a sensor 116A-K.

In some embodiments, the vehicle 100 may include a ranging and imagingsystem 112 such as LIDAR, or the like. The ranging and imaging system112 may be configured to detect visual information in an environmentsurrounding the vehicle 100. The visual information detected in theenvironment surrounding the ranging and imaging system 112 may beprocessed (e.g., via one or more sensor and/or system processors, etc.)to generate a complete 360-degree view of an environment 200 around thevehicle. The ranging and imaging system 112 may be configured togenerate changing 360-degree views of the environment 200 in real-time,for instance, as the vehicle 100 drives. In some cases, the ranging andimaging system 112 may have an effective detection limit 204 that issome distance from the center of the vehicle 100 outward over 360degrees. The effective detection limit 204 of the ranging and imagingsystem 112 defines a view zone 208 (e.g., an area and/or volume, etc.)surrounding the vehicle 100. Any object falling outside of the view zone208 is in the undetected zone 212 and would not be detected by theranging and imaging system 112 of the vehicle 100.

Sensor data and information may be collected by one or more sensors orsystems 116A-K, 112 of the vehicle 100 monitoring the vehicle sensingenvironment 200. This information may be processed (e.g., via aprocessor, computer-vision system, etc.) to determine targets (e.g.,objects, signs, people, markings, roadways, conditions, etc.) inside oneor more detection zones 208, 216A-D associated with the vehicle sensingenvironment 200. In some cases, information from multiple sensors 116A-Kmay be processed to form composite sensor detection information. Forexample, a first sensor 116A and a second sensor 116F may correspond toa first camera 116A and a second camera 116F aimed in a forwardtraveling direction of the vehicle 100. In this example, imagescollected by the cameras 116A, 116F may be combined to form stereo imageinformation. This composite information may increase the capabilities ofa single sensor in the one or more sensors 116A-K by, for example,adding the ability to determine depth associated with targets in the oneor more detection zones 208, 216A-D. Similar image data may be collectedby rear view cameras (e.g., sensors 116G, 116H) aimed in a rearwardtraveling direction vehicle 100.

In some embodiments, multiple sensors 116A-K may be effectively joinedto increase a sensing zone and provide increased sensing coverage. Forinstance, multiple RADAR sensors 116B disposed on the front 110 of thevehicle may be joined to provide a zone 216B of coverage that spansacross an entirety of the front 110 of the vehicle. In some cases, themultiple RADAR sensors 116B may cover a detection zone 216B thatincludes one or more other sensor detection zones 216A. Theseoverlapping detection zones may provide redundant sensing, enhancedsensing, and/or provide greater detail in sensing within a particularportion (e.g., zone 216A) of a larger zone (e.g., zone 216B).Additionally or alternatively, the sensors 116A-K of the vehicle 100 maybe arranged to create a complete coverage, via one or more sensing zones208, 216A-D around the vehicle 100. In some areas, the sensing zones216C of two or more sensors 116D, 116E may intersect at an overlap zone220. In some areas, the angle and/or detection limit of two or moresensing zones 216C, 216D (e.g., of two or more sensors 116E, 116J, 116K)may meet at a virtual intersection point 224.

The vehicle 100 may include a number of sensors 116E, 116G, 116H, 116J,116K disposed proximal to the rear 120 of the vehicle 100. These sensorscan include, but are in no way limited to, an imaging sensor, camera,IR, a radio object-detection and ranging sensors, RADAR, RF, ultrasonicsensors, and/or other object-detection sensors. Among other things,these sensors 116E, 116G, 116H, 116J, 116K may detect targets near orapproaching the rear of the vehicle 100. For example, another vehicleapproaching the rear 120 of the vehicle 100 may be detected by one ormore of the ranging and imaging system (e.g., LIDAR) 112, rear-viewcameras 116G, 116H, and/or rear facing RADAR sensors 116J, 116K. Asdescribed above, the images from the rear-view cameras 116G, 116H may beprocessed to generate a stereo view (e.g., providing depth associatedwith an object or environment, etc.) for targets visible to both cameras116G, 116H. As another example, the vehicle 100 may be driving and oneor more of the ranging and imaging system 112, front-facing cameras116A, 116F, front-facing RADAR sensors 116B, and/or ultrasonic sensors116C may detect targets in front of the vehicle 100. This approach mayprovide critical sensor information to a vehicle control system in atleast one of the autonomous driving levels described above. Forinstance, when the vehicle 100 is driving autonomously (e.g., Level 3,Level 4, or Level 5) and detects other vehicles stopped in a travelpath, the sensor detection information may be sent to the vehiclecontrol system of the vehicle 100 to control a driving operation (e.g.,braking, decelerating, etc.) associated with the vehicle 100 (in thisexample, slowing the vehicle 100 as to avoid colliding with the stoppedother vehicles). As yet another example, the vehicle 100 may beoperating and one or more of the ranging and imaging system 112, and/orthe side-facing sensors 116D, 116E (e.g., RADAR, ultrasonic, camera,combinations thereof, and/or other type of sensor), may detect targetsat a side of the vehicle 100. It should be appreciated that the sensors116A-K may detect a target that is both at a side 160 and a front 110 ofthe vehicle 100 (e.g., disposed at a diagonal angle to a centerline ofthe vehicle 100 running from the front 110 of the vehicle 100 to therear 120 of the vehicle). Additionally or alternatively, the sensors116A-K may detect a target that is both, or simultaneously, at a side160 and a rear 120 of the vehicle 100 (e.g., disposed at a diagonalangle to the centerline of the vehicle 100).

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a communicationenvironment 300 of the vehicle 100 in accordance with embodiments of thepresent disclosure. The communication system 300 may include one or morevehicle driving vehicle sensors and systems 304, sensor processors 340,sensor data memory 344, vehicle control system 348, communicationssubsystem 350, control data 364, computing devices 368, sensor cleaningsystems 370, display devices 372, and other components 374 that may beassociated with a vehicle 100. These associated components may beelectrically and/or communicatively coupled to one another via at leastone bus 360. In some embodiments, the one or more associated componentsmay send and/or receive signals across a communication network 352 to atleast one of a navigation source 356A, a control source 356B, or someother entity 356N.

In accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure,the communication network 352 may comprise any type of knowncommunication medium or collection of communication media and may useany type of protocols, such as SIP, TCP/IP, SNA, IPX, AppleTalk, and thelike, to transport messages between endpoints. The communication network352 may include wired and/or wireless communication technologies. TheInternet is an example of the communication network 352 that constitutesan Internet Protocol (IP) network consisting of many computers,computing networks, and other communication devices located all over theworld, which are connected through many telephone systems and othermeans. Other examples of the communication network 104 include, withoutlimitation, a standard Plain Old Telephone System (POTS), an IntegratedServices Digital Network (ISDN), the Public Switched Telephone Network(PSTN), a Local Area Network (LAN), such as an Ethernet network, aToken-Ring network and/or the like, a Wide Area Network (WAN), a virtualnetwork, including without limitation a virtual private network (“VPN”);the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, a cellular network, an infra-rednetwork; a wireless network (e.g., a network operating under any of theIEEE 802.9 suite of protocols, the Bluetooth® protocol known in the art,and/or any other wireless protocol), and any other type ofpacket-switched or circuit-switched network known in the art and/or anycombination of these and/or other networks. In addition, it can beappreciated that the communication network 352 need not be limited toany one network type, and instead may be comprised of a number ofdifferent networks and/or network types. The communication network 352may comprise a number of different communication media such as coaxialcable, copper cable/wire, fiber-optic cable, antennas fortransmitting/receiving wireless messages, and combinations thereof.

The driving vehicle sensors and systems 304 may include at least onenavigation 308 (e.g., global positioning system (GPS), etc.),orientation 312, odometry 316, LIDAR 320, RADAR 324, ultrasonic 328,camera 332, infrared (IR) 336, and/or other sensor or system 338. Thesedriving vehicle sensors and systems 304 may be similar, if notidentical, to the sensors and systems 116A-K, 112 described inconjunction with FIGS. 1 and 2.

The navigation sensor 308 may include one or more sensors havingreceivers and antennas that are configured to utilize a satellite-basednavigation system including a network of navigation satellites capableof providing geolocation and time information to at least one componentof the vehicle 100. Examples of the navigation sensor 308 as describedherein may include, but are not limited to, at least one of Garmin® GLO™family of GPS and GLONASS combination sensors, Garmin® GPS 15x™ familyof sensors, Garmin® GPS 16x™ family of sensors with high-sensitivityreceiver and antenna, Garmin® GPS 18x OEM family of high-sensitivity GPSsensors, Dewetron DEWE-VGPS series of GPS sensors, GlobalSat 1-Hz seriesof GPS sensors, other industry-equivalent navigation sensors and/orsystems, and may perform navigational and/or geolocation functions usingany known or future-developed standard and/or architecture.

The orientation sensor 312 may include one or more sensors configured todetermine an orientation of the vehicle 100 relative to at least onereference point. In some embodiments, the orientation sensor 312 mayinclude at least one pressure transducer, stress/strain gauge,accelerometer, gyroscope, and/or geomagnetic sensor. Examples of thenavigation sensor 308 as described herein may include, but are notlimited to, at least one of Bosch Sensortec BMX 160 series low-powerabsolute orientation sensors, Bosch Sensortec BMX055 9-axis sensors,Bosch Sensortec BMI055 6-axis inertial sensors, Bosch Sensortec BMI1606-axis inertial sensors, Bosch Sensortec BMIF055 9-axis inertial sensors(accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer) with integrated Cortex M0+microcontroller, Bosch Sensortec BMP280 absolute barometric pressuresensors, Infineon TLV493D-A1B6 3D magnetic sensors, InfineonTLI493D-W1B6 3D magnetic sensors, Infineon TL family of 3D magneticsensors, Murata Electronics SCC2000 series combined gyro sensor andaccelerometer, Murata Electronics SCC1300 series combined gyro sensorand accelerometer, other industry-equivalent orientation sensors and/orsystems, and may perform orientation detection and/or determinationfunctions using any known or future-developed standard and/orarchitecture.

The odometry sensor and/or system 316 may include one or more componentsthat is configured to determine a change in position of the vehicle 100over time. In some embodiments, the odometry system 316 may utilize datafrom one or more other sensors and/or systems 304 in determining aposition (e.g., distance, location, etc.) of the vehicle 100 relative toa previously measured position for the vehicle 100. Additionally oralternatively, the odometry sensors 316 may include one or moreencoders, Hall speed sensors, and/or other measurement sensors/devicesconfigured to measure a wheel speed, rotation, and/or number ofrevolutions made over time. Examples of the odometry sensor/system 316as described herein may include, but are not limited to, at least one ofInfineon TLE4924/26/27/28C high-performance speed sensors, InfineonTL4941plusC(B) single chip differential Hall wheel-speed sensors,Infineon TL5041plusC Giant Mangnetoresistance (GMR) effect sensors,Infineon TL family of magnetic sensors, EPC Model 25SP Accu-CoderPro™incremental shaft encoders, EPC Model 30M compact incremental encoderswith advanced magnetic sensing and signal processing technology, EPCModel 925 absolute shaft encoders, EPC Model 958 absolute shaftencoders, EPC Model MA36S/MA63S/SA36S absolute shaft encoders, Dynapar™F18 commutating optical encoder, Dynapar™ HS35R family of phased arrayencoder sensors, other industry-equivalent odometry sensors and/orsystems, and may perform change in position detection and/ordetermination functions using any known or future-developed standardand/or architecture.

The LIDAR sensor/system 320 may include one or more componentsconfigured to measure distances to targets using laser illumination. Insome embodiments, the LIDAR sensor/system 320 may provide 3D imagingdata of an environment around the vehicle 100. The imaging data may beprocessed to generate a full 360-degree view of the environment aroundthe vehicle 100. The LIDAR sensor/system 320 may include a laser lightgenerator configured to generate a plurality of target illuminationlaser beams (e.g., laser light channels). In some embodiments, thisplurality of laser beams may be aimed at, or directed to, a rotatingreflective surface (e.g., a mirror) and guided outwardly from the LIDARsensor/system 320 into a measurement environment. The rotatingreflective surface may be configured to continually rotate 360 degreesabout an axis, such that the plurality of laser beams is directed in afull 360-degree range around the vehicle 100. A photodiode receiver ofthe LIDAR sensor/system 320 may detect when light from the plurality oflaser beams emitted into the measurement environment returns (e.g.,reflected echo) to the LIDAR sensor/system 320. The LIDAR sensor/system320 may calculate, based on a time associated with the emission of lightto the detected return of light, a distance from the vehicle 100 to theilluminated target. In some embodiments, the LIDAR sensor/system 320 maygenerate over 2.0 million points per second and have an effectiveoperational range of at least 100 meters. Examples of the LIDARsensor/system 320 as described herein may include, but are not limitedto, at least one of Velodyne® LiDAR™ HDL-64E 64-channel LIDAR sensors,Velodyne® LiDAR™ HDL-32E 32-channel LIDAR sensors, Velodyne® LiDAR™PUCK™ VLP-16 16-channel LIDAR sensors, Leica Geosystems Pegasus: Twomobile sensor platform, Garmin® LIDAR-Lite v3 measurement sensor,Quanergy M8 LiDAR sensors, Quanergy S3 solid state LiDAR sensor,LeddarTech® LeddarVU compact solid state fixed-beam LIDAR sensors, otherindustry-equivalent LIDAR sensors and/or systems, and may performilluminated target and/or obstacle detection in an environment aroundthe vehicle 100 using any known or future-developed standard and/orarchitecture.

The RADAR sensors 324 may include one or more radio components that areconfigured to detect objects/targets in an environment of the vehicle100. In some embodiments, the RADAR sensors 324 may determine adistance, position, and/or movement vector (e.g., angle, speed, etc.)associated with a target over time. The RADAR sensors 324 may include atransmitter configured to generate and emit electromagnetic waves (e.g.,radio, microwaves, etc.) and a receiver configured to detect returnedelectromagnetic waves. In some embodiments, the RADAR sensors 324 mayinclude at least one processor configured to interpret the returnedelectromagnetic waves and determine locational properties of targets.Examples of the RADAR sensors 324 as described herein may include, butare not limited to, at least one of Infineon RASIC™ RTN7735PLtransmitter and RRN7745PL/46PL receiver sensors, Autoliv ASP VehicleRADAR sensors, Delphi L2C0051TR 77 GHz ESR Electronically Scanning Radarsensors, Fujitsu Ten Ltd. Automotive Compact 77 GHz 3D Electronic ScanMillimeter Wave Radar sensors, other industry-equivalent RADAR sensorsand/or systems, and may perform radio target and/or obstacle detectionin an environment around the vehicle 100 using any known orfuture-developed standard and/or architecture.

The ultrasonic sensors 328 may include one or more components that areconfigured to detect objects/targets in an environment of the vehicle100. In some embodiments, the ultrasonic sensors 328 may determine adistance, position, and/or movement vector (e.g., angle, speed, etc.)associated with a target over time. The ultrasonic sensors 328 mayinclude an ultrasonic transmitter and receiver, or transceiver,configured to generate and emit ultrasound waves and interpret returnedechoes of those waves. In some embodiments, the ultrasonic sensors 328may include at least one processor configured to interpret the returnedultrasonic waves and determine locational properties of targets.Examples of the ultrasonic sensors 328 as described herein may include,but are not limited to, at least one of Texas Instruments TIDA-00151automotive ultrasonic sensor interface IC sensors, MaxBotix® MB8450ultrasonic proximity sensor, MaxBotix® ParkSonar™-EZ ultrasonicproximity sensors, Murata Electronics MA40H1S-R open-structureultrasonic sensors, Murata Electronics MA40S4R/S open-structureultrasonic sensors, Murata Electronics MA58MF14-7N waterproof ultrasonicsensors, other industry-equivalent ultrasonic sensors and/or systems,and may perform ultrasonic target and/or obstacle detection in anenvironment around the vehicle 100 using any known or future-developedstandard and/or architecture.

The camera sensors 332 may include one or more components configured todetect image information associated with an environment of the vehicle100. In some embodiments, the camera sensors 332 may include a lens,filter, image sensor, and/or a digital image processer. It is an aspectof the present disclosure that multiple camera sensors 332 may be usedtogether to generate stereo images providing depth measurements.Examples of the camera sensors 332 as described herein may include, butare not limited to, at least one of ON Semiconductor® MT9V024 GlobalShutter VGA GS CMOS image sensors, Teledyne DALSA Falcon2 camerasensors, CMOSIS CMV50000 high-speed CMOS image sensors, otherindustry-equivalent camera sensors and/or systems, and may performvisual target and/or obstacle detection in an environment around thevehicle 100 using any known or future-developed standard and/orarchitecture.

The infrared (IR) sensors 336 may include one or more componentsconfigured to detect image information associated with an environment ofthe vehicle 100. The IR sensors 336 may be configured to detect targetsin low-light, dark, or poorly-lit environments. The IR sensors 336 mayinclude an IR light emitting element (e.g., IR light emitting diode(LED), etc.) and an IR photodiode. In some embodiments, the IRphotodiode may be configured to detect returned IR light at or about thesame wavelength to that emitted by the IR light emitting element. Insome embodiments, the IR sensors 336 may include at least one processorconfigured to interpret the returned IR light and determine locationalproperties of targets. The IR sensors 336 may be configured to detectand/or measure a temperature associated with a target (e.g., an object,pedestrian, other vehicle, etc.). Examples of IR sensors 336 asdescribed herein may include, but are not limited to, at least one ofOpto Diode lead-salt IR array sensors, Opto Diode OD-850 Near-IR LEDsensors, Opto Diode SA/SHA727 steady state IR emitters and IR detectors,FLIR® LS microbolometer sensors, FLIR® TacFLIR 380-HD InSb MWIR FPA andHD MWIR thermal sensors, FLIR® VOx 640×480 pixel detector sensors,Delphi IR sensors, other industry-equivalent IR sensors and/or systems,and may perform IR visual target and/or obstacle detection in anenvironment around the vehicle 100 using any known or future-developedstandard and/or architecture.

In some embodiments, the driving vehicle sensors and systems 304 mayinclude other sensors 338 and/or combinations of the sensors 308-336described above. Additionally or alternatively, one or more of thesensors 308-336 described above may include one or more processorsconfigured to process and/or interpret signals detected by the one ormore sensors 308-336. In some embodiments, the processing of at leastsome sensor information provided by the vehicle sensors and systems 304may be processed by at least one sensor processor 340. Raw and/orprocessed sensor data may be stored in a sensor data memory 344 storagemedium. In some embodiments, the sensor data memory 344 may storeinstructions used by the sensor processor 340 for processing sensorinformation provided by the sensors and systems 304. In any event, thesensor data memory 344 may be a disk drive, optical storage device,solid-state storage device such as a random access memory (“RAM”) and/ora read-only memory (“ROM”), which can be programmable, flash-updateable,and/or the like.

The vehicle control system 348 may receive processed sensor informationfrom the sensor processor 340 and determine to control an aspect of thevehicle 100. Controlling an aspect of the vehicle 100 may includepresenting information via one or more display devices 372 associatedwith the vehicle, sending commands to one or more computing devices 368associated with the vehicle, and/or controlling a driving operation ofthe vehicle. In some embodiments, the vehicle control system 348 maycorrespond to one or more computing systems that control drivingoperations of the vehicle 100 in accordance with the Levels of drivingautonomy described above. In one embodiment, the vehicle control system348 may operate a speed of the vehicle 100 by controlling an outputsignal to the accelerator and/or braking system of the vehicle. In thisexample, the vehicle control system 348 may receive sensor datadescribing an environment surrounding the vehicle 100 and, based on thesensor data received, determine to adjust the acceleration, poweroutput, and/or braking of the vehicle 100. The vehicle control system348 may additionally control steering and/or other driving functions ofthe vehicle 100.

The vehicle control system 348 may communicate, in real-time, with thedriving sensors and systems 304 forming a feedback loop. In particular,upon receiving sensor information describing a condition of targets inthe environment surrounding the vehicle 100, the vehicle control system348 may autonomously make changes to a driving operation of the vehicle100. The vehicle control system 348 may then receive subsequent sensorinformation describing any change to the condition of the targetsdetected in the environment as a result of the changes made to thedriving operation. This continual cycle of observation (e.g., via thesensors, etc.) and action (e.g., selected control or non-control ofvehicle operations, etc.) allows the vehicle 100 to operate autonomouslyin the environment.

In some embodiments, the one or more components of the vehicle 100(e.g., the driving vehicle sensors 304, vehicle control system 348,display devices 372, etc.) may communicate across the communicationnetwork 352 to one or more entities 356A-N via a communicationssubsystem 350 of the vehicle 100. Embodiments of the communicationssubsystem 350 are described in greater detail in conjunction with FIG.5. For instance, the navigation sensors 308 may receive globalpositioning, location, and/or navigational information from a navigationsource 356A. In some embodiments, the navigation source 356A may be aglobal navigation satellite system (GNSS) similar, if not identical, toNAVSTAR GPS, GLONASS, EU Galileo, and/or the BeiDou Navigation SatelliteSystem (BDS) to name a few.

In some embodiments, the vehicle control system 348 may receive controlinformation from one or more control sources 356B. The control source356 may provide vehicle control information including autonomous drivingcontrol commands, vehicle operation override control commands, and thelike. The control source 356 may correspond to an autonomous vehiclecontrol system, a traffic control system, an administrative controlentity, and/or some other controlling server. It is an aspect of thepresent disclosure that the vehicle control system 348 and/or othercomponents of the vehicle 100 may exchange communications with thecontrol source 356 across the communication network 352 and via thecommunications subsystem 350.

Information associated with controlling driving operations of thevehicle 100 may be stored in a control data memory 364 storage medium.The control data memory 364 may store instructions used by the vehiclecontrol system 348 for controlling driving operations of the vehicle100, historical control information, autonomous driving control rules,and the like. In some embodiments, the control data memory 364 may be adisk drive, optical storage device, solid-state storage device such as arandom access memory (“RAM”) and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), whichcan be programmable, flash-updateable, and/or the like.

The sensor cleaning systems 370 may include any device and/or systemthat is configured to clean a sensor (e.g., the driving vehicle sensorsand systems 304, ranging and imaging system 112, sensors 116A-K, etc.,and/or combinations thereof) of the vehicle 100. In some embodiments,the sensor cleaning systems 370 may be described in conjunction withFIGS. 16A-19C. Additionally or alternatively, the sensor cleaningsystems 370 may receive a command or instruction from the sensorprocessors 340, the vehicle control system 348, etc. to initiate acleaning operation for one or more of the sensors. The cleaningoperation may be initiated in response to the sensor processors 340and/or vehicle control system 348 detecting that at least one sensor ofthe vehicle 100 is blocked, obscured, obstructed, and/or failing overtime. In some embodiments, the sensor cleaning system 370 may include aprocessor and memory, or a controller, configured to communicate withone or more components of the vehicle 100. The sensor cleaning systemmay include one or more cleaning devices associated with various sensorsof the vehicle 100. It is an aspect of the present disclosure thatobjects on sensor surfaces may be detected in accordance with one ormore of the methods 1400, 1500 disclosed in conjunction with FIGS. 14and 15.

In addition to the mechanical components described herein, the vehicle100 may include a number of user interface devices. The user interfacedevices receive and translate human input into a mechanical movement orelectrical signal or stimulus. The human input may be one or more ofmotion (e.g., body movement, body part movement, in two-dimensional orthree-dimensional space, etc.), voice, touch, and/or physicalinteraction with the components of the vehicle 100. In some embodiments,the human input may be configured to control one or more functions ofthe vehicle 100 and/or systems of the vehicle 100 described herein. Userinterfaces may include, but are in no way limited to, at least onegraphical user interface of a display device, steering wheel ormechanism, transmission lever or button (e.g., including park, neutral,reverse, and/or drive positions, etc.), throttle control pedal ormechanism, brake control pedal or mechanism, power control switch,communications equipment, etc.

FIG. 4 shows one embodiment of the instrument panel 400 of the vehicle100. The instrument panel 400 of vehicle 100 comprises a steering wheel410, a vehicle operational display 420 (e.g., configured to presentand/or display driving data such as speed, measured air resistance,vehicle information, entertainment information, etc.), one or moreauxiliary displays 424 (e.g., configured to present and/or displayinformation segregated from the operational display 420, entertainmentapplications, movies, music, etc.), a heads-up display 434 (e.g.,configured to display any information previously described including,but in no way limited to, guidance information such as route todestination, or obstacle warning information to warn of a potentialcollision, or some or all primary vehicle operational data such asspeed, resistance, etc.), a power management display 428 (e.g.,configured to display data corresponding to electric power levels ofvehicle 100, reserve power, charging status, etc.), and an input device432 (e.g., a controller, touchscreen, or other interface deviceconfigured to interface with one or more displays in the instrumentpanel or components of the vehicle 100. The input device 432 may beconfigured as a joystick, mouse, touchpad, tablet, 3D gesture capturedevice, etc.). In some embodiments, the input device 432 may be used tomanually maneuver a portion of the vehicle 100 into a charging position(e.g., moving a charging plate to a desired separation distance, etc.).

While one or more of displays of instrument panel 400 may betouch-screen displays, it should be appreciated that the vehicleoperational display may be a display incapable of receiving touch input.For instance, the operational display 420 that spans across an interiorspace centerline 404 and across both a first zone 408A and a second zone408B may be isolated from receiving input from touch, especially from apassenger. In some cases, a display that provides vehicle operation orcritical systems information and interface may be restricted fromreceiving touch input and/or be configured as a non-touch display. Thistype of configuration can prevent dangerous mistakes in providing touchinput where such input may cause an accident or unwanted control.

In some embodiments, one or more displays of the instrument panel 400may be mobile devices and/or applications residing on a mobile devicesuch as a smart phone. Additionally or alternatively, any of theinformation described herein may be presented to one or more portions420A-N of the operational display 420 or other display 424, 428, 434. Inone embodiment, one or more displays of the instrument panel 400 may bephysically separated or detached from the instrument panel 400. In somecases, a detachable display may remain tethered to the instrument panel.

The portions 420A-N of the operational display 420 may be dynamicallyreconfigured and/or resized to suit any display of information asdescribed. Additionally or alternatively, the number of portions 420A-Nused to visually present information via the operational display 420 maybe dynamically increased or decreased as required, and are not limitedto the configurations shown.

FIG. 5 illustrates a hardware diagram of communications componentry thatcan be optionally associated with the vehicle 100 in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure.

The communications componentry can include one or more wired or wirelessdevices such as a transceiver(s) and/or modem that allows communicationsnot only between the various systems disclosed herein but also withother devices, such as devices on a network, and/or on a distributednetwork such as the Internet and/or in the cloud and/or with othervehicle(s).

The communications subsystem 350 can also include inter- andintra-vehicle communications capabilities such as hotspot and/or accesspoint connectivity for any one or more of the vehicle occupants and/orvehicle-to-vehicle communications.

Additionally, and while not specifically illustrated, the communicationssubsystem 350 can include one or more communications links (that can bewired or wireless) and/or communications busses (managed by the busmanager 574), including one or more of CANbus, OBD-II, ARCINC 429,Byteflight, CAN (Controller Area Network), D2B (Domestic Digital Bus),FlexRay, DC-BUS, IDB-1394, IEBus, I2C, ISO 9141-1/-2, J1708, J1587,J1850, J1939, ISO 11783, Keyword Protocol 2000, LIN (Local InterconnectNetwork), MOST (Media Oriented Systems Transport), Multifunction VehicleBus, SMARTwireX, SPI, VAN (Vehicle Area Network), and the like or ingeneral any communications protocol and/or standard(s).

The various protocols and communications can be communicated one or moreof wirelessly and/or over transmission media such as single wire,twisted pair, fiber optic, IEEE 1394, MIL-STD-1553, MIL-STD-1773,power-line communication, or the like. (All of the above standards andprotocols are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety).

As discussed, the communications subsystem 350 enables communicationsbetween any if the inter-vehicle systems and subsystems as well ascommunications with non-collocated resources, such as those reachableover a network such as the Internet.

The communications subsystem 350, in addition to well-known componentry(which has been omitted for clarity), includes interconnected elementsincluding one or more of: one or more antennas 504, aninterleaver/deinterleaver 508, an analog front end (AFE) 512,memory/storage/cache 516, controller/microprocessor 520, MAC circuitry522, modulator/demodulator 524, encoder/decoder 528, a plurality ofconnectivity managers 534, 558, 562, 566, GPU 540, accelerator 544, amultiplexer/demultiplexer 552, transmitter 570, receiver 572 andwireless radio 578 components such as a Wi-Fi PHY/Bluetooth® module 580,a Wi-Fi/BT MAC module 584, transmitter 588 and receiver 592. The variouselements in the device 350 are connected by one or more links/busses 5(not shown, again for sake of clarity).

The device 350 can have one more antennas 504, for use in wirelesscommunications such as multi-input multi-output (MIMO) communications,multi-user multi-input multi-output (MU-MIMO) communications Bluetooth®,LTE, 4G, 5G, Near-Field Communication (NFC), etc., and in general forany type of wireless communications. The antenna(s) 504 can include, butare not limited to one or more of directional antennas, omnidirectionalantennas, monopoles, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas,dipoles, and any other antenna(s) suitable for communicationtransmission/reception. In an exemplary embodiment,transmission/reception using MIMO may require particular antennaspacing. In another exemplary embodiment, MIMO transmission/receptioncan enable spatial diversity allowing for different channelcharacteristics at each of the antennas. In yet another embodiment, MIMOtransmission/reception can be used to distribute resources to multipleusers for example within the vehicle 100 and/or in another vehicle.

Antenna(s) 504 generally interact with the Analog Front End (AFE) 512,which is needed to enable the correct processing of the receivedmodulated signal and signal conditioning for a transmitted signal. TheAFE 512 can be functionally located between the antenna and a digitalbaseband system in order to convert the analog signal into a digitalsignal for processing and vice-versa.

The subsystem 350 can also include a controller/microprocessor 520 and amemory/storage/cache 516. The subsystem 350 can interact with thememory/storage/cache 516 which may store information and operationsnecessary for configuring and transmitting or receiving the informationdescribed herein. The memory/storage/cache 516 may also be used inconnection with the execution of application programming or instructionsby the controller/microprocessor 520, and for temporary or long termstorage of program instructions and/or data. As examples, thememory/storage/cache 520 may comprise a computer-readable device, RAM,ROM, DRAM, SDRAM, and/or other storage device(s) and media.

The controller/microprocessor 520 may comprise a general purposeprogrammable processor or controller for executing applicationprogramming or instructions related to the subsystem 350. Furthermore,the controller/microprocessor 520 can perform operations for configuringand transmitting/receiving information as described herein. Thecontroller/microprocessor 520 may include multiple processor cores,and/or implement multiple virtual processors. Optionally, thecontroller/microprocessor 520 may include multiple physical processors.By way of example, the controller/microprocessor 520 may comprise aspecially configured Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) orother integrated circuit, a digital signal processor(s), a controller, ahardwired electronic or logic circuit, a programmable logic device orgate array, a special purpose computer, or the like.

The subsystem 350 can further include a transmitter 570 and receiver 572which can transmit and receive signals, respectively, to and from otherdevices, subsystems and/or other destinations using the one or moreantennas 504 and/or links/busses. Included in the subsystem 350circuitry is the medium access control or MAC Circuitry 522. MACcircuitry 522 provides for controlling access to the wireless medium. Inan exemplary embodiment, the MAC circuitry 522 may be arranged tocontend for the wireless medium and configure frames or packets forcommunicating over the wired/wireless medium.

The subsystem 350 can also optionally contain a security module (notshown). This security module can contain information regarding but notlimited to, security parameters required to connect the device to one ormore other devices or other available network(s), and can include WEP orWPA/WPA-2 (optionally+AES and/or TKIP) security access keys, networkkeys, etc. The WEP security access key is a security password used byWi-Fi networks. Knowledge of this code can enable a wireless device toexchange information with an access point and/or another device. Theinformation exchange can occur through encoded messages with the WEPaccess code often being chosen by the network administrator. WPA is anadded security standard that is also used in conjunction with networkconnectivity with stronger encryption than WEP.

In some embodiments, the communications subsystem 350 also includes aGPU 540, an accelerator 544, a Wi-Fi/BT/BLE PHY module 580 and aWi-Fi/BT/BLE MAC module 584 and wireless transmitter 588 and receiver592. In some embodiments, the GPU 540 may be a graphics processing unit,or visual processing unit, comprising at least one circuit and/or chipthat manipulates and changes memory to accelerate the creation of imagesin a frame buffer for output to at least one display device. The GPU 540may include one or more of a display device connection port, printedcircuit board (PCB), a GPU chip, a metal-oxide-semiconductorfield-effect transistor (MOSFET), memory (e.g., single data raterandom-access memory (SDRAM), double data rate random-access memory(DDR) RAM, etc., and/or combinations thereof), a secondary processingchip (e.g., handling video out capabilities, processing, and/or otherfunctions in addition to the GPU chip, etc.), a capacitor, heatsink,temperature control or cooling fan, motherboard connection, shielding,and the like.

The various connectivity managers 534, 558, 562, 566 manage and/orcoordinate communications between the subsystem 350 and one or more ofthe systems disclosed herein and one or more other devices/systems. Theconnectivity managers 534, 558, 562, 566 include a charging connectivitymanager 534, a vehicle database connectivity manager 558, a remoteoperating system connectivity manager 562, and a sensor connectivitymanager 566.

The charging connectivity manager 534 can coordinate not only thephysical connectivity between the vehicle 100 and a chargingdevice/vehicle, but can also communicate with one or more of a powermanagement controller, one or more third parties and optionally abilling system(s). As an example, the vehicle 100 can establishcommunications with the charging device/vehicle to one or more ofcoordinate interconnectivity between the two (e.g., by spatiallyaligning the charging receptacle on the vehicle with the charger on thecharging vehicle) and optionally share navigation information. Oncecharging is complete, the amount of charge provided can be tracked andoptionally forwarded to, for example, a third party for billing. Inaddition to being able to manage connectivity for the exchange of power,the charging connectivity manager 534 can also communicate information,such as billing information to the charging vehicle and/or a thirdparty. This billing information could be, for example, the owner of thevehicle, the driver/occupant(s) of the vehicle, company information, orin general any information usable to charge the appropriate entity forthe power received.

The vehicle database connectivity manager 558 allows the subsystem toreceive and/or share information stored in the vehicle database. Thisinformation can be shared with other vehicle components/subsystemsand/or other entities, such as third parties and/or charging systems.The information can also be shared with one or more vehicle occupantdevices, such as an app (application) on a mobile device the driver usesto track information about the vehicle 100 and/or a dealer orservice/maintenance provider. In general any information stored in thevehicle database can optionally be shared with any one or more otherdevices optionally subject to any privacy or confidentiallyrestrictions.

The remote operating system connectivity manager 562 facilitatescommunications between the vehicle 100 and any one or more autonomousvehicle systems. These communications can include one or more ofnavigation information, vehicle information, other vehicle information,weather information, occupant information, or in general any informationrelated to the remote operation of the vehicle 100.

The sensor connectivity manager 566 facilitates communications betweenany one or more of the vehicle sensors (e.g., the driving vehiclesensors and systems 304, etc.) and any one or more of the other vehiclesystems. The sensor connectivity manager 566 can also facilitatecommunications between any one or more of the sensors and/or vehiclesystems and any other destination, such as a service company, app, or ingeneral to any destination where sensor data is needed.

In accordance with one exemplary embodiment, any of the communicationsdiscussed herein can be communicated via the conductor(s) used forcharging. One exemplary protocol usable for these communications isPower-line communication (PLC). PLC is a communication protocol thatuses electrical wiring to simultaneously carry both data, andAlternating Current (AC) electric power transmission or electric powerdistribution. It is also known as power-line carrier, power-line digitalsubscriber line (PDSL), mains communication, power-linetelecommunications, or power-line networking (PLN). For DC environmentsin vehicles PLC can be used in conjunction with CAN-bus, LIN-bus overpower line (DC-LIN) and DC-BUS.

The communications subsystem can also optionally manage one or moreidentifiers, such as an IP (internet protocol) address(es), associatedwith the vehicle and one or other system or subsystems or componentstherein. These identifiers can be used in conjunction with any one ormore of the connectivity managers as discussed herein.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of a computing environment 600 thatmay function as the servers, user computers, or other systems providedand described herein. The computing environment 600 includes one or moreuser computers, or computing devices, such as a vehicle computing device604, a communication device 608, and/or more 612. The computing devices604, 608, 612 may include general purpose personal computers (including,merely by way of example, personal computers, and/or laptop computersrunning various versions of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows® and/or AppleCorp.'s Macintosh® operating systems) and/or workstation computersrunning any of a variety of commercially-available UNIX® or UNIX-likeoperating systems. These computing devices 604, 608, 612 may also haveany of a variety of applications, including for example, database clientand/or server applications, and web browser applications. Alternatively,the computing devices 604, 608, 612 may be any other electronic device,such as a thin-client computer, Internet-enabled mobile telephone,and/or personal digital assistant, capable of communicating via anetwork 352 and/or displaying and navigating web pages or other types ofelectronic documents. Although the exemplary computing environment 600is shown with two computing devices, any number of user computers orcomputing devices may be supported.

The computing environment 600 may also include one or more servers 614,616. In this example, server 614 is shown as a web server and server 616is shown as an application server. The web server 614, which may be usedto process requests for web pages or other electronic documents fromcomputing devices 604, 608, 612. The web server 614 can be running anoperating system including any of those discussed above, as well as anycommercially-available server operating systems. The web server 614 canalso run a variety of server applications, including SIP (SessionInitiation Protocol) servers, HTTP(s) servers, FTP servers, CGI servers,database servers, Java servers, and the like. In some instances, the webserver 614 may publish operations available operations as one or moreweb services.

The computing environment 600 may also include one or more file andor/application servers 616, which can, in addition to an operatingsystem, include one or more applications accessible by a client runningon one or more of the computing devices 604, 608, 612. The server(s) 616and/or 614 may be one or more general purpose computers capable ofexecuting programs or scripts in response to the computing devices 604,608, 612. As one example, the server 616, 614 may execute one or moreweb applications. The web application may be implemented as one or morescripts or programs written in any programming language, such as Java™,C, C #®, or C++, and/or any scripting language, such as Perl, Python, orTCL, as well as combinations of any programming/scripting languages. Theapplication server(s) 616 may also include database servers, includingwithout limitation those commercially available from Oracle®,Microsoft®, Sybase®, IBM® and the like, which can process requests fromdatabase clients running on a computing device 604, 608, 612.

The web pages created by the server 614 and/or 616 may be forwarded to acomputing device 604, 608, 612 via a web (file) server 614, 616.Similarly, the web server 614 may be able to receive web page requests,web services invocations, and/or input data from a computing device 604,608, 612 (e.g., a user computer, etc.) and can forward the web pagerequests and/or input data to the web (application) server 616. Infurther embodiments, the server 616 may function as a file server.Although for ease of description, FIG. 6 illustrates a separate webserver 614 and file/application server 616, those skilled in the artwill recognize that the functions described with respect to servers 614,616 may be performed by a single server and/or a plurality ofspecialized servers, depending on implementation-specific needs andparameters. The computer systems 604, 608, 612, web (file) server 614and/or web (application) server 616 may function as the system, devices,or components described in FIGS. 1-6.

The computing environment 600 may also include a database 618. Thedatabase 618 may reside in a variety of locations. By way of example,database 618 may reside on a storage medium local to (and/or residentin) one or more of the computers 604, 608, 612, 614, 616. Alternatively,it may be remote from any or all of the computers 604, 608, 612, 614,616, and in communication (e.g., via the network 352) with one or moreof these. The database 618 may reside in a storage-area network (“SAN”)familiar to those skilled in the art. Similarly, any necessary files forperforming the functions attributed to the computers 604, 608, 612, 614,616 may be stored locally on the respective computer and/or remotely, asappropriate. The database 618 may be a relational database, such asOracle 20i®, that is adapted to store, update, and retrieve data inresponse to SQL-formatted commands.

FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of a computer system 700 upon whichthe servers, user computers, computing devices, or other systems orcomponents described above may be deployed or executed. The computersystem 700 is shown comprising hardware elements that may beelectrically coupled via a bus 704. The hardware elements may includeone or more central processing units (CPUs) 708; one or more inputdevices 712 (e.g., a mouse, a keyboard, etc.); and one or more outputdevices 716 (e.g., a display device, a printer, etc.). The computersystem 700 may also include one or more storage devices 720. By way ofexample, storage device(s) 720 may be disk drives, optical storagedevices, solid-state storage devices such as a random access memory(“RAM”) and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), which can be programmable,flash-updateable and/or the like.

The computer system 700 may additionally include a computer-readablestorage media reader 724; a communications system 728 (e.g., a modem, anetwork card (wireless or wired), an infra-red communication device,etc.); and working memory 736, which may include RAM and ROM devices asdescribed above. The computer system 700 may also include a processingacceleration unit 732, which can include a DSP, a special-purposeprocessor, and/or the like.

The computer-readable storage media reader 724 can further be connectedto a computer-readable storage medium, together (and, optionally, incombination with storage device(s) 720) comprehensively representingremote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices plus storagemedia for temporarily and/or more permanently containingcomputer-readable information. The communications system 728 may permitdata to be exchanged with a network and/or any other computer describedabove with respect to the computer environments described herein.Moreover, as disclosed herein, the term “storage medium” may representone or more devices for storing data, including read only memory (ROM),random access memory (RAM), magnetic RAM, core memory, magnetic diskstorage mediums, optical storage mediums, flash memory devices and/orother machine readable mediums for storing information.

The computer system 700 may also comprise software elements, shown asbeing currently located within a working memory 736, including anoperating system 740 and/or other code 744. It should be appreciatedthat alternate embodiments of a computer system 700 may have numerousvariations from that described above. For example, customized hardwaremight also be used and/or particular elements might be implemented inhardware, software (including portable software, such as applets), orboth. Further, connection to other computing devices such as networkinput/output devices may be employed.

Examples of the processors 340, 708 as described herein may include, butare not limited to, at least one of Qualcomm® Snapdragon® 800 and 801,Qualcomm® Snapdragon® 620 and 615 with 4G LTE Integration and 64-bitcomputing, Apple® A7 processor with 64-bit architecture, Apple® M7motion coprocessors, Samsung® Exynos® series, the Intel® Core™ family ofprocessors, the Intel® Xeon® family of processors, the Intel® Atom™family of processors, the Intel Itanium® family of processors, Intel®Core® i5-4670K and i7-4770K 22 nm Haswell, Intel® Core® i5-3570K 22 nmIvy Bridge, the AMD® FX™ family of processors, AMD® FX-4300, FX-6300,and FX-8350 32 nm Vishera, AMD® Kaveri processors, Texas Instruments®Jacinto C6000™ automotive infotainment processors, Texas Instruments®OMAP™ automotive-grade mobile processors, ARM® Cortex™-M processors,ARM® Cortex-A and ARM926EJ-S™ processors, other industry-equivalentprocessors, and may perform computational functions using any known orfuture-developed standard, instruction set, libraries, and/orarchitecture.

FIGS. 8A and 8B show various sensors 112, 116A, 116B, 116F associatedwith portions of the vehicle 100 (e.g., the front 110 and roof 130 ofthe vehicle 100, etc.) having at least partial obstructions. Theobstruction and/or blockage may be associated with an object that isattached to and/or in contact with a surface of the sensor. This objectmay be in the form of a fluid, a solid, a vapor, etc., and/orcombinations thereof. Examples of objects may include, but are in no waylimited to, blood, chemicals, debris, detritus, dirt, dust, food, frost,hail, ice, insects, mud, paint, projectiles, rubbish, sleet, snow, tar,trash, etc., damaged surfaces caused by projectiles and/or collisions(e.g., scratches, chips, dents, etc.), and/or combinations thereof. Insome embodiments, the object may partially and/or fully obstruct asensing capability (e.g., viewing, detecting, ranging, imaging, etc.) ofa sensor or a group of sensors (e.g., linked sensors, combined detectionsensors, etc.). In some embodiments, sensors may be grouped together bythe sensor processor 340 and an output from the group of sensors may beused to generate a composite sensor output over time for the group ofsensors.

Referring to FIG. 8A, a front 110 of a vehicle 100 is shown with asensor 116B that is at least partially obstructed by an object 804A. Asshown in FIG. 8A, the first vehicle portion 800A of the vehicle 100 mayinclude a number of sensors 116B, 116C. In some embodiments, thesesensors 116B, 116C may correspond to the radio object-detection andranging system sensors 116B (e.g., RADAR, RF, etc.), and ultrasonicsensors 116C as described in conjunction with FIGS. 1 and 2. While theobject is shown on the radio object-detection and ranging system sensor116B in FIG. 8A, it should be appreciated that a sensor-obstructionobject may be on any of the sensors described herein and are not limitedto the examples shown. The object 804A of FIG. 8A is shown obstructingan upper portion of the sensor surface 808 of the sensor 116B. In oneembodiment, this type of partial sensor obstruction (e.g., object 804B)may be associated with, for example, mud or snow on the sensor surface808.

FIG. 8B shows a top or roof 130 of a vehicle 100 with multipleobstructed sensors 112, 116F. In some embodiments, one or more of thesensors (e.g., ranging and imaging system 112, imaging sensor 116F,etc.) associated with a vehicle 100 may be obstructed at some level,while other sensors (e.g., imaging sensor 116A) may be unobstructed. Thesecond vehicle portion 800B shows a sensor surface (e.g., a lens, cover,protective shield, etc.) of the ranging and imaging system 112 (e.g.,LIDAR sensor/system 112, 320) is at least partially obstructed by anobject 804B. As shown in FIG. 8B, the object 804B overlaps a portion ofthe body 814, or housing, and the sensor surface 812 of the ranging andimaging system 112. In one embodiment, this type of partial sensorobstruction (e.g., object 804B) may be associated with, for instance,detritus (e.g., bird droppings, tree sap, etc.) on the sensor surface812.

In some embodiments, an object 804C may completely obstruct and/or blocka sensor (e.g., imaging sensor 116F) of the vehicle 100. For example,FIG. 8B shows an imaging sensor 116F (e.g., a camera, IR sensor, etc.)with a completely obstructed sensor surface 816. In some embodiments,the object 804C may cover an entirety of the sensor 116F and/or thesensor body 818. In one embodiment, this type of complete sensor surface816 obstruction (e.g., object 804C) may be associated with, forinstance, snow, ice, hail, or rubbish (e.g., plastic bag, paper, etc.)covering the sensor surface 816.

FIGS. 9A-9C show graphical representations 901-903 of detected sensorinformation over time by different sensors (e.g., first, second, andthird sensors, etc.) of the vehicle 100. As provided herein, the termsensors may be used to refer to any of the sensors (e.g., the drivingvehicle sensors and systems 304, ranging and imaging system 112, sensors116A-K, etc.), or combinations of sensors, of the vehicle 100. As shownin FIGS. 9A-9C, each graphical representation 901-903 includes a charthaving an origin 904 (or first detection point), an end 906 (or lastdetection point), an output (or number of outputs) over time 908A-C(e.g., waveform), a vertical axis 912 representing an intensityassociated with detected sensor information, and a horizontal axis 916representing the time associated with each output.

The first detection point 904 may correspond to a point in time when thesensor began detecting (e.g., providing detection information, etc.). Insome cases, the first detection point 904 may correspond to a firstpoint of an analyzed portion of detected sensor information. In thisexample, the first detection point 904 may not be the point in time whenthe sensor began detecting, but may be a point defined or automaticallyselected by the sensor processors 340 in determining a capability of thesensor for measuring an environment of the vehicle 100.

The last detection point 906 may correspond to a point in time when thesensor stopped detecting (e.g., ceasing to provide detectioninformation). In some cases, the last detection point 906 may correspondto a final point of an analyzed portion of detected sensor information.In this example, the last detection point 906 may not be the point intime when the sensor stopped detecting, but may be a final point definedor automatically selected by the sensor processors 340 in determining acapability of the sensor for measuring an environment of the vehicle100.

The output over time 908A-C may correspond to an intensity ormeasurement unit (e.g., range, distance, speed, time of flight, etc.) ofthe detected sensor information over time. In some embodiments, theoutput over time 908A-C may include a number of outputs at times withinthe first detection point 904 and the last detection point 906. As asensing environment changes over time (e.g., as targets move relative tothe sensors) an intensity of the detected sensor information may change.For instance, when a vehicle 100 approaches an intersection and a targetin front 110 of the vehicle 100, a RADAR sensor 116B may determine arange to the target by recording an intensity or measurement unit atvarious times the vehicle 100 is operating. In this example, as thevehicle 100 approaches the target, the range to the target decreasesover time. In the event, that the output intensity or measurement unitis a time of flight associated with the emitted and sensed values, thegraphical representations 901-903 would show a taller output at a firsttime (e.g., indicating that it took a long time for the a sensoremission to return back to the sensor) than a height of the output at asecond or subsequent time (e.g., when the vehicle 100 and sensors arecloser to the target). In the event, that the output intensity ormeasurement unit is an intensity of a returned sensor signal, thegraphical representations 901-903 would show a shorter output at a firsttime (e.g., indicating that the sensor signal intensity measured fromthe return signal diminished some amount from the emitted signalintensity because the target was further away at the first time) than aheight of the output at a second or subsequent time (e.g., when thevehicle 100 and sensors are closer to the target and the sensor signalintensity measured from the return signal was closer to the emittedsignal intensity). In any event, the change in range to a target may beshown as a sensor output that changes in intensity associated with theoutput over time 908A-C.

FIG. 9A shows a graphical representation 901 of an output over time 908Afor a first sensor of the vehicle 100. As shown in FIG. 9A, the outputover time 908A may include varying levels of intensity or measurementunits along the vertical axis 912 for one or more times in thehorizontal axis 916. FIG. 9B shows a graphical representation 902 of anoutput over time 908B for a second sensor of the vehicle 100. Asillustrated in FIGS. 9A-9B, the output over time 908A, 908B for thefirst and second sensors are substantially similar, if not identical. Insome embodiments, the first and second sensors may be the same type ofsensor (e.g., imaging and ranging system 112, sensors 116A-K, LIDAR 320,RADAR 324, ultrasonic 328, camera 332, infrared (IR) 336, and/or othersensor or system 338, etc.). For example, the first and second sensorsmay be RADAR sensors 324. Whenever the output over time 908A, 908B issubstantially similar between sensors of the same type and/or locationon a vehicle 100, the sensors may be determined to have the sameoperating characteristics or abilities. In one embodiment, thissimilarity may indicate that the sensors are unobstructed by any object.

FIG. 9C shows a graphical representation 903 of an output over time 908Cfor a third sensor of the vehicle 100. In some embodiments, one or moreof the first and/or second sensors may be different from a third type ofsensor for the vehicle 100. For instance, the third the same type ofsensor may be an imaging sensor 116A, 116F, 332, 336 (e.g., a camera,etc.) of the vehicle 100. Although the output over time 908C isschematically represented as a 2D waveform, it should be appreciatedthat the visual data need not be so limited. In any event, the outputover time 908C for the third sensor output is shown changing (e.g., inintensity and/or measurement unit, as described above) over time.

FIG. 10 shows a graphical representation 1001 illustrating an example ofoverlapped outputs over time 908B, 908C, 1008 for three sensors of thevehicle 100 over the same period of time. As described above, themethods and systems described herein may utilize sensor detectioninformation that is similar, if not identical, to that shown in FIGS.9A-10 (e.g., associated with one or more sensors to detect sensorobstructions including objects that are on, in contact with, or part ofsensor surfaces. For example, the graphical representation 1001 of FIG.10 shows an example of an output over time 1008 for a blocked firstsensor. The first sensor in FIG. 10 may be determined to be blocked bycomparing an output over time 908B for a similar sensor (e.g., secondsensor) over a same time period. The output over time 908B for thesecond sensor is shown in dashed lines overlapping the output over time1008 for the blocked first sensor. In this example graphicalrepresentation 1001, a difference between the outputs over time 1008,908B may be determined or observed over a nonconforming region 1002 ofthe graph. As shown in FIG. 10, the first and second sensors provideddetected sensor information that was similar, if not identical, over afirst portion of the period of time (e.g., similar outputs over time1008, 908B, over the portion of time). However, the first sensorprovides different detected sensor information (e.g., output over time1008) over a nonconforming region 1002 when compared to the secondsensor output over time 908B for the same remaining portion of theperiod of time.

In some embodiments, the difference between the outputs over time 1008,908B may indicate that at least one sensor of the vehicle 100 isobstructed and/or nonfunctional. It is an aspect of the presentdisclosure that a particular sensor, or sensors, may be identified asthe obstructed sensor, or sensors. This identification may includereferring to signal characteristics, intensities, measurement values,etc. associated with the sensors of the vehicle 100. In one embodiment,the sensor processors 340 may determine that the detected sensorinformation from one of the sensors is not changing according to apredicted, or preset, threshold. This lack of change in detected sensorinformation may indicate that the sensor is completely obstructed, orblocked, at or for an amount of time.

In some embodiments, the sensor processors 340 may determine that thedetected sensor information from one of the sensors, when compared tothe detected sensor information of at least one other sensor (e.g., asensor of a different type, a third sensor, etc.) is not changingaccording to the change characteristics of the at least one othersensor. For instance, the third sensor providing the output over time908C may be oriented in a similar position on the vehicle 100 (e.g.,sensing movement, targets, or a change in environment around the vehicle100, at a particular side, area, or zone of the vehicle 100, etc.) asthe first and/or second sensors having output over time 1008, 908B. Inthis example, the sensor processors 340 may determine that the secondsensor output over time 908B and the third sensor output over time 908C,while not necessarily identical, indicate a related change over time inthe sensed environment. Additionally or alternatively, the sensorprocessors 340 may determine that the first sensor output over time 1008and the third sensor output over time 908C have no relationship, atleast over a portion of time (e.g., the nonconforming region 1002). Insome embodiments, this relationship of change information may be used bythe sensor processors 340 to uniquely identify the obstructed sensorfrom one or more sensors.

FIG. 11 shows a graphical representation 1101 illustrating an example ofoverlapped outputs over time 1108, 908B for multiple sensors of thevehicle 100 over the same period of time. As described above, themethods and systems described herein may utilize sensor detectioninformation that is similar, if not identical, to that shown in FIGS.9A-11 (e.g., associated with one or more sensors to detect sensorobstructions including objects that are on, in contact with, or part ofsensor surfaces. In one example, a sensor may be obstructed by dirt ordetritus and may provide information that is impaired in some way (e.g.,not as accurate as a clean sensor, limited range of the sensor, etc.).For example, the graphical representation 1101 of FIG. 11 shows anexample of an output over time 1108 for an obstructed first sensor. Thefirst sensor in FIG. 11 may be determined to be obstructed by comparingan output over time 908B for a similar sensor (e.g., second sensor) overa same time period to the output over time 1108 for the first sensor.The output over time 908B for the second sensor is shown in dashed linesoverlapping the output over time 1108 for the obstructed first sensor.In this example graphical representation 1101, a difference between theoutputs over time 1108, 908B may be determined or observed over anonconforming region 1102, or measurement variation, of the graph. Asshown in FIG. 11, the first and second sensors provided detected sensorinformation that was similar, if not identical, over the period of time(e.g., similar outputs over time 1108, 908B). However, the first sensorprovides a scaled (e.g., diminished, reduced, less accurate, etc.)measurement variation 1102 in the detected sensor information (e.g.,output over time 1108) over the period of time when compared to theoutput over time 908B for the second sensor over the same period oftime. In some embodiments, the measurement variation 1102 may beattributed to a proximity of a target to a particular sensor, but whenthe measurement variation 1102 (e.g., measurement offset, etc.) issubstantially consistent across all measurements made over a period oftime, the sensor may be determined to be obstructed (at leastpartially). In FIG. 11, for example, the sensor providing mutedintensities or measurement values (e.g., reduced, lower, or diminishedvalues, etc.) may be determined to be the sensor that is obstructed.

Referring to FIGS. 12A-12C show schematic views of imaging sensorinformation 1201-1203, detected by at least one imaging system of thevehicle 100, describing a visual environment (e.g., at some point at oraround the vehicle 100) that changes over time (T1-T3)(e.g., while thevehicle 100 is driving, etc.). In some embodiments, the imaging systemmay be one or more of the imaging sensors 116A, 116F, 332, 336 (e.g., acamera, etc.) described above. The schematic views of 12A-12C showcomputer-generated images 1201-1203 including one or more targets1204A-E that are detected as changing in shape, size, range, and/orgeometry while the vehicle 100 is operating along a path 1206 orroadway.

FIG. 12A shows a schematic view of imaging sensor information 1201detected by the imaging system of the vehicle 100 at a first time oftravel T1 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Insome embodiments, the vehicle 100 may be driving down a street, roadway,or other driving path 1204. As the vehicle 100 is driving, the imagingsystem may visually detect targets in a sensing area of the imagingsystem describing (e.g., visually) an environment outside of the vehicle100. The environment may include a first target 1204A (e.g., anothervehicle, a pedestrian, an object, etc.) on the roadway 1206, and/or oneor more other targets 1204B-E (e.g., buildings, landmarks, signs,markers, etc.).

As the vehicle 100 moves along the path 1206, visual characteristicsassociated with the targets 1204A-E may change at a second time T2. FIG.12B shows a schematic view of imaging sensor information 1202 detectedby the imaging system of the vehicle 100 at a second time of travel T2in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. In FIG. 12B,the range to all of the targets 1204A-E has changed. For example, thesize and shape of the vehicle target 1204 and the building targets1204B, 1204D, 1204E have increased in dimension at the second time T2,while building target 1204C is shown moving off-image.

As the vehicle 100 continues to move along the path 1206 at a subsequenttime, the visual characteristics associated with the targets 1204A-E maycontinue to change. In FIG. 12C, a schematic view of imaging sensorinformation 1203 detected by the imaging system of the vehicle 100 at athird time of travel T3 is shown in accordance with embodiments of thepresent disclosure. FIG. 12C shows that target information has changedto include a larger shape and size associated with some targets, whileother targets have moved completely off-image. For instance, vehicletarget 1204 and the building target 1204B have increased in shape andsize, while building target 1204D is shown moving off-image and buildingtargets 1204C, 1204E have moved completely off-image. In someembodiments, FIGS. 12A-12C show imaging sensor information changing overtime (e.g., T1-T3) for an unobstructed imaging system and/or sensor.

FIGS. 13A-13C show schematic views of obstructed imaging sensorinformation 1301-1303, detected by at least one imaging system of thevehicle 100, describing a visual environment (e.g., at some point at oraround the vehicle 100) that changes over time (T1-T3)(e.g., while thevehicle 100 is driving, etc.). In some embodiments, the imaging systemmay be one or more of the imaging sensors 116A, 116F, 332, 336 (e.g., acamera, etc.) described above. The schematic views of 13A-13C showcomputer-generated images 1301-1303 including one or more targets1204A-C that are detected as changing in shape, size, range, and/orgeometry and a region of the images that does not change while thevehicle 100 is operating along a path 1202 or roadway.

FIG. 13A shows a schematic view of obstructed imaging sensor information1301 detected by the imaging system of the vehicle 100 at the first timeof travel T1 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.In one embodiment, the imaging system of the vehicle 100 shown in FIG.13A may represent one camera or imaging sensor 116A, 116F, 332, 336 ofthe vehicle that has been exposed to an obstruction object 1304. The onecamera or imaging sensor may be part of a combined imaging system (e.g.,stereo cameras, 3D sensors, etc.) of the vehicle 100. In this example,the methods and systems described herein may compare imaging sensorinformation from one camera to the imaging sensor information fromanother camera in the combined imaging system to determine whether anycamera in the combined imaging system is obstructed. For example, FIGS.12A-12C may represent the unobstructed camera in the combined imagingsystem and FIGS. 13A-13C may represent the obstructed camera in thecombined imaging system. In some embodiments, the obstruction object1304 may be detected on a single imaging sensor and/or system.

In any event, the obstruction object 1304 may be any one or more of theobjects described in conjunction with FIGS. 8A-8B. For instance, theimaging sensor information 1301 shown in FIG. 13A may represent an imageof an environment associated with the vehicle 100 (e.g., around at leasta portion of the vehicle 100, etc.) at the first time T1 when anobstruction object 1304 first appears in the computer-generated image1301. At this point in time, the obstruction object 1304 may limit orobstruct a viewing or imaging capability of a region of the imagingsystem. For instance, targets 1204D, 1204E which were previouslyviewable are no longer viewable in the computer generated images1301-1303 having the obstruction object 1304. This instantaneousreplacement of a number of objects that were previously viewable in thecomputer-generated image 1301-1303 may indicate an obstruction object1304 is obstructing the viewing capability of the imaging system.

In any event, as the vehicle 100 moves along the path 1206 at a secondtime T2, visual characteristics associated with the targets 1204A-C maychange. However, targets that were previously viewable in a region ofthe image replaced by the obstruction object 1304 remain invisible tothe imaging system shown in FIGS. 13A-13C. In one embodiment, the changein targets and non-change in the region of the image defined by the areaof the obstruction object 1304 may indicate that an obstruction object1304 is obstructing the viewing capability of the imaging system. Thisinformation may be used in conjunction with, or apart from, theinstantaneous replacement of the number of objects described above indetermining obstructions of sensors. In some cases, the images 1301-1303of FIGS. 13A-13C may be compared to the images 1201-1203 of FIGS.12A-12C to determine if an obstruction object 1304 is present. FIG. 13Bshows a schematic view of imaging sensor information 1303 detected bythe imaging system of the vehicle 100 at the second time of travel T2 inaccordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. In FIG. 13B, therange to all of the visible targets 1204A-C has changed, but visualcharacteristics and information (e.g., size, shape, dimension, location,etc.) associated with the obstruction object 1304 has not substantiallychanged. For example, the size and shape of the vehicle target 1204 andthe building target 1204B have increased in dimension at the second timeT2 and the building target 1204C is shown moving off-image, but theobstruction object 1304 region has not changed.

As the vehicle 100 continues to move along the path 1206 at a subsequenttime, the visual characteristics associated with the visible targets1204A, 1204B may continue to change. In FIG. 13C, the schematic view ofobstructed imaging sensor information 1303 detected by the imagingsystem of the vehicle 100 at a third time of travel T3 is shown inaccordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 13C showsthat target information has changed to include a larger shape and sizeassociated with some targets, while other targets have moved completelyoff-image, and the obstruction object 1304 has not substantiallychanged. For instance, vehicle target 1204 and the building target 1204Bhave increased in shape and size, while building target 1204C has movedcompletely off-image. In some embodiments, FIGS. 13A-13C show imagingsensor information changing over time (e.g., T1-T3) for an at leastpartially obstructed imaging system and/or sensor of the vehicle 100.

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of a first method 1400 for detecting an objecton a sensor surface of the vehicle 100 in accordance with embodiments ofthe present disclosure. While a general order for the steps of themethod 1400 is shown in FIG. 14, the method 1400 can include more orfewer steps or can arrange the order of the steps differently than thoseshown in FIG. 14. Generally, the method 1400 starts with a startoperation 1404 and ends with an end operation 1440. The method 1400 canbe executed as a set of computer-executable instructions executed by acomputer system and encoded or stored on a computer readable medium.Hereinafter, the method 1400 shall be explained with reference to thesystems, components, assemblies, devices, user interfaces, environments,software, etc. described in conjunction with FIGS. 1-13.

The method 1400 begins at step 1404 and proceeds by monitoring thesensor detection output from one or more sensors associated with thevehicle 100 (step 1408). In some embodiments, the sensors may be one ormore of the ADAS vehicle sensors described above. In any event, thesensors may repeatedly, or continually, emit and receive sensing signalsin an environment outside of the vehicle 100. In one embodiment, themonitoring may include a process of repeatedly receiving sensorinformation, interpreting the sensor information, and processing thesensor information. The sensor processor 340 described above may beconfigured to receive output from one or more sensors associated withthe vehicle 100 and process the output. Typically, the sensors aredisposed in, on, and/or about a vehicle 100 to, among other things,measure an environment around at least a portion of the vehicle 100(e.g., a driving environment, parking environment, etc.). In someembodiments, sensor information and data may be stored in the sensordata memory 356A.

Next, the method 1400 continues by determining whether there are anydifferences between measured sensor values of one or more sensors (step1412). Differences in measured sensor values may be obtained bycomparing the output over time 908A-C, 1008, 1108 of sensors for aperiod of time, as described in conjunction with FIGS. 9A-11. Forinstance, a first sensor output over time 908A, 1008, 1108 for a periodof time may be compared to another sensor output over time 908B, 908Cfor the same period of time. When the measure sensor values (e.g., thesensor outputs over time 908A-C, 1008, 1108) include substantialvariation, a difference may be determined. In some embodiments, thedifferences in measured sensor values may include analyzing values of asingle sensor over time. For example, the sensor output over time908A-C, 1008, 1108 for a particular sensor, or sensor group, may includeone or more data points that fail to meet a predetermined threshold. Thepredetermined threshold may be based on a timing associated with areturn signal detected by the sensor, an intensity of the return signaldetected, and/or combinations thereof. As one example, if the sensoremits a detection signal and instantaneously, or near-instantaneously,receives a response signal, the sensor may be determined to beobstructed. In this example, the time between emitting and receiving asensor detection signal (e.g., time of flight) may be associated with aminimum threshold time. This minimum threshold time may be set to a timefor the signal to return when a target is at the periphery of thevehicle 100, or at some offset of the periphery. In the event that areturned signal is received by the sensor faster than the minimumthreshold time, then the sensor may be identified as obstructed and/orblocked. If there is no difference determined, the method 1400 returnsto step 1408 to continue monitoring the sensor detection output by thesensors. In the event that a difference is determined to exist betweenmeasured sensor values, the method 1400 continues at step 1416.

The method 1400 proceeds by determining whether the differencesdetermined in step 1412 are within acceptable thresholds of operation(step 1416). In some embodiments, a measurement variation 1102 may existbetween the sensor output over time 908A-C, 1008, 1108 for a number ofsensors. This measurement variation 1102 may be a drift, an offsetmeasurement, and/or a nonconforming region 1002 variation. When a sensoris partially obstructed (e.g., via a minimal amount of debris, dust, ordirt etc.) the measurement variation 1102 may be within acceptablethresholds of operation. For example, an offset value of measurement mayindicate that the obstructed sensor may not be as sensitive as a cleansensor but is still capable of making measurements according to apredetermined sensor measurement value or range. However, when a sensorincludes a blocked portion, or a substantially obstructed sensor surface(e.g., the one or more surfaces of the sensor allowing the emission anddetection of signals), the method may proceed to step 1420 and/or 1424.

In some embodiments, the method 1400 may optionally proceed to comparethe sensor data (e.g., first and/or second sensor outputs over time908A-B, 1008, 1108) of steps 1412 and 1416 to the sensor data (e.g.,third sensor output over time 908C) of a third sensor. This comparisonmay be similar, if not identical, to the comparisons described inconjunction with FIGS. 9A-11.

Next, the method 1400 proceeds be identifying one or more sensors thatare suspected of being dirty, unclean, and/or obstructed (step 1424). Insome embodiments, the identification may be based on the comparison ofstep 1420 and/or the other steps of the method 1400 where a sensor isproducing detected sensor information that fails to conform to thedetected sensor information of other sensors (e.g., similar sensors,similarly positioned sensors, etc.). In one embodiment the differencesin detected sensor information provided between sensors may be found tobe outside acceptable thresholds of operation for a particular sensor.In some embodiments, where the difference between a first sensor and asecond sensor is within acceptable thresholds of operation, the method1400 may determine whether either or both of the first and secondsensors are starting to fail, or drifting out of calibration (see steps1418, 1422). For instance, in some embodiments, the differencesdetermined between a sensor and another sensor may be compared tohistorical data associated with the sensors (step 1418). In someembodiments, once a sensor system is monitored and evaluated, the sensordata associated with that monitoring and evaluation may be stored in thesensor data memory 344. If the differences are determined to beincreasing over time for a particular sensor, then that sensor may bedetermined to be failing or drifting out of calibration (1422). In anyevent, the method 1400 may identify a type, location, and/or position ofthe suspect sensor (i.e., the sensor(s) determined to be obstructed,failing, and/or drifting).

The method 1400 may proceed by sending a message including informationabout the suspect sensor to one or more of a user of the vehicle 100, acomputing device 368, 604, 608, 612, a display device 372, a vehiclecontrol system 348, and/or some other device associated with the vehicle100 (step 1428). In some embodiments, the message may be configured toalert a user or other entity of a sensing obstruction associated withone or more sensors, indicate a severity of the obstruction, identifythe sensor(s), and/or otherwise convey information about the sensor viaa display device 372 associated with the vehicle 100. Additionally oralternatively, the message may include instructions and/or a command forthe vehicle control system 348 and/or the sensor cleaning systems 370 ofthe vehicle 100 to clean the sensor identified. In some embodiments, thecleaning command may include information about a specific locationand/or an area of the sensor surface that requires cleaning. Forinstance, in response to receiving the cleaning command, the sensorcleaning system 370 may determine a particular sensor cleaning device isassociated with the identified sensor having the obstruction. Next, thesensor cleaning system 370 may send an electrical signal to the sensorcleaning device associated with the identified sensor having theobstruction to remove the obstruction.

Next, the method 1400 may continue by determining whether the vehiclecontrol system 348 and/or the sensor cleaning systems 370 cleaned thesensor(s) (step 1432). In some embodiments, this determination may bemade by proceeding through one or more the steps of the method 1400 todetermine if the cleaning operation cured the detected measurementdifferences. In one embodiment, the sensor cleaning device or system mayrespond with an acknowledgement signal or message indicating that thecleaning operation was performed. If the sensor(s) have been previouslycleaned a number of times and the cleaning still does not cure thedetected measurement differences, the method 1400 may proceed byalerting the user or taking alternative action (not shown). In someembodiments, the method 1400 may determine that the identified sensorsrequire additional cleaning (e.g., especially where a difference inmeasurement values improved from a first cleaning, etc.). In thisinstance, the method 1400 proceeds by cleaning the identified sensorsvia one or more sensor cleaning systems 370. The method ends at step1440.

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of a second method 1500 for detecting anobject on a sensor surface of the vehicle 100 in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure. While a general order for thesteps of the method 1500 is shown in FIG. 15, the method 1500 caninclude more or fewer steps or can arrange the order of the stepsdifferently than those shown in FIG. 15. Generally, the method 1500starts with a start operation 1504 and ends with an end operation 1540.The method 1500 can be executed as a set of computer-executableinstructions executed by a computer system and encoded or stored on acomputer readable medium. Hereinafter, the method 1500 shall beexplained with reference to the systems, components, assemblies,devices, user interfaces, environments, software, etc. described inconjunction with FIGS. 1-14.

The method 1500 begins at step 1504 and proceeds by monitoring visiondata and representative objects in computer-generated images from one ormore imaging systems of the vehicle 100 (step 1508). In someembodiments, the imaging system may be one or more of the imagingsensors 116A, 116F, 332, 336 (e.g., a camera, etc.) described herein.The computer-generated image may correspond to one or more of the images1201-1203, 1301-1303 described in conjunction with FIGS. 12A-13C. Themonitoring may include receiving the information from one or moreimaging system of the vehicle 100 and generating (e.g., via the sensorprocessors 340, etc.) one or more computer-generated images representingan environment around at least a portion of the vehicle 100.

Next, the method 1500 may continue by determining visual characteristicsof targets in the computer-generated images (step 1512). For example,the method 1500 may determine a position, size, and/or a vectorassociated with one or more targets in the computer-generated imagesover time (e.g., T1-T3). For example, the method 1500 may determine thata vehicle 100 or other object is approaching the vehicle 100 along aparticular path and speed.

In some embodiments, the method 1500 may calculate, based on the visualcharacteristics of the targets determined, at least one predictedposition, size, and/or vector for the targets, or representative objects(step 1516). For instance, if the imaging sensor detects an target(e.g., vehicle target 1204A, etc.) getting closer and/or larger overtime according to an observed speed and time, the sensor processors 340may calculate, extrapolate, and/or otherwise determine a next positionand/or size for the target at a subsequent or future time.

The method 1500 may continue by determining whether any subsequentchanges to the targets or representative objects in thecomputer-generated images (e.g., generated from imaging sensor data anddetected sensor information, etc.) are not substantially similar to thepredicted position, size, and/or vector for the targets (step 1520). Forinstance, when an obstruction hits an imaging sensor, targets which werepreviously viewable in the computer-generated images may disappear, inan instant, or no longer be viewable. This instantaneous replacement ofa number of targets or representative objects that were previouslyviewable in the computer-generated image may indicate an obstructionobject 1304 is obstructing the viewing capability of the imaging system.For instance, a number of targets disappearing in an instant from thecomputer-generated image may not have been predicted in step 1516.

In the event, that there is an unpredicted change to one or more targetsin the computer-generated images over time, the method 1500 may continueby determining the region of the imaging sensor associated with theunpredicted change (step 1524). In some embodiments, this determinationmay involve identifying one or more sensors in a group of sensors (e.g.,combined image system, etc.) having the obstruction. In one embodiment,the determination may involve identifying a portion of the one or moresensors having the obstruction.

The method 1500 continues by sending a message about the identifiedimaging sensor (step 1528). In some embodiments, the message may directa sensor cleaning system 370 to clean the identified imaging sensorhaving the obstruction. The message may include information about theidentified imaging sensor to one or more of a user of the vehicle 100, acomputing device 368, 604, 608, 612, a display device 372, a vehiclecontrol system 348, and/or some other device associated with the vehicle100 (step 1428). In response to receiving the cleaning command, thesensor cleaning system 370 may determine a particular sensor cleaningdevice is associated with the identified sensor having the obstruction.Next, the sensor cleaning system 370 may send an electrical signal tothe sensor cleaning device associated with the identified sensor havingthe obstruction to remove the obstruction. In some embodiments, themessage may be configured to alert a user or other entity of a sensingobstruction associated with one or more sensors, indicate a severity ofthe obstruction, identify the sensor(s), and/or otherwise conveyinformation about the sensor via a display device 372 associated withthe vehicle 100. Additionally or alternatively, the message may includeinstructions and/or a command for the vehicle control system 348 and/orthe sensor cleaning systems 370 of the vehicle 100 to clean the sensoridentified. In some embodiments, the cleaning command may includeinformation about a specific location and/or an area of the sensorsurface that requires cleaning. The method 1500 ends at step 1532.

The methods 1400, 1500 above describe sending messages about one or moreobstructed, or suspect, sensors. In some embodiments, the one or moresensors may not be able to be cleaned and may remain obstructed. In somecases, an obstructed sensor may prevent a vehicle from operating safelyin at least in one level of vehicle control. For instance, a vehicle 100operating in a conditional, high, and/or full automation level (e.g.,Levels 3-5) may require most of the sensors (e.g., especially thedriving sensors and systems 304) to provide accurate and unobstructedinformation. Because some sensors may be more important than others, thesensor processors 340 and or vehicle control system may classifyimportant sensors differently from other sensors. Important sensors maybe treated differently by receiving prioritized attention (e.g.,cleaning operations, maintenance, continual monitoring, etc.). Examplesof important sensors in the automation context may include, but is notlimited to, LIDAR 320, RADAR 324, ultrasonic 328, cameras 332, and/or IRsensors 336. In this case, the message may be sent to a vehicle controlsystem 348 to limit a function of the vehicle 100, disable the vehicle100, and/or present information to one or more devices of the vehicle100 (e.g., requiring user intervention to replace and/or repair theidentified sensor, etc.).

FIG. 16A-16C show schematic views of various sensor cleaning systems1601-1603 of the vehicle 100 in accordance with embodiments of thepresent disclosure. The sensor cleaning systems 1601-1603 may correspondto the one or more of the sensor cleaning systems 370 described above.Each sensor cleaning system 1601-1603 shows an obstruction object 1604at least partially obstructing a portion of the sensor surface 1616. Asillustrated in FIGS. 16A-16C, a representative sensor surface 1616 isshown having a width 1602 and a height 1606 defining a sensor area of atleast one sensor surface 1616 of the vehicle 100. The sensor surface1616 may be associated with one or more of the sensors 112, 116A-K, 304,described above.

Referring now to FIG. 16A, a schematic view of a pressurized-fluidsensor cleaning system 1601 of the vehicle 100 is shown in accordancewith embodiments of the present disclosure. The pressurized-fluid sensorcleaning system 1601 may include a fluid-directing nozzle 1618configured to direct pressurized fluid supplied by fluid supply 1628(e.g., a pump, or compressor, etc.) via one or more fluid lines 1632.The pressurized fluid may be directed (e.g., via the fluid-directingnozzle 1618) to clean the sensor area of the sensor surface 1616. Insome embodiments, the fluid-directing nozzle 1618 may be moveable totarget a particular region of the sensor area having the obstructionobject 1604. For instance, a portion of the fluid-directing nozzle 1618may be pivotable about an angular range defined by angle it, thatencompasses the sensor area. The cleaning fluid may be compressed air orgas, pressurized water or other fluid, and/or some other focused fluid.

FIG. 16B shows a schematic view of an actuated-wiper sensor cleaningsystem 1602 of the vehicle 100 in accordance with embodiments of thepresent disclosure. The actuated-wiper sensor cleaning system 1602 maycomprise a wiper blade 1638 attached to a moveable carriage 1640 via aconnection arm 1642. The wiper blade 1638 may include a material thatcontacts the sensor area of the sensor surface 1616 to remove anobstruction object 1604. In some embodiments, the wiper blade 1638 maybe made at least partially from a compliant material configured toconform to a shape, curve, or feature of the sensor surface 1616.Examples of the compliant material may include, but are in no waylimited to, rubber, plastic, silicone, cloth, etc., and/or combinationsthereof. The wiper blade 1638 may be configured to move from a firstposition P1 to a second position P2 in a wiper actuation. The wiperactuation may be in at least one direction along arrow 1644. In someembodiments, the moveable carriage 1640 of the actuated-wiper sensorcleaning system 1602 may be actuated via a solenoid, air/gas cylinder,hydraulic cylinder, screw actuator and motor, linear actuator, and/orany other actuator configured to convert energy into motion. Forexample, the moveable carriage 1640 may travel along a track 1636associated with a body of the vehicle 100. In some embodiments, thewiper blade 1638 may be configured to move off of the sensor area to afirst clear position 1621 (at the left-side of the sensor surface 1616)and/or to a second clear position 1623 (at the right-side of the sensorsurface 1616). In the clear positions 1621, 1623 the complete sensorarea is clear from obstruction by any component of the actuated-wipersensor cleaning system 1602.

FIG. 16C shows a schematic view of a contactless sensor cleaning system1603 of the vehicle 100 in accordance with embodiments of the presentdisclosure. In some embodiments, the contactless sensor cleaning system1603 may comprise a first device 1650 comprising a horizontal array ofultrasonic transducers 1654 configured to emit ultrasonic pulses towardthe sensor surface 1616 and remove an obstruction object 1604 therefrom.In one embodiment, a second device 1650B may comprise a vertical arrayof ultrasonic transducers 1654 (e.g., an array of ultrasonic transducersdisposed orthogonal to the horizontal array, etc.) configured to emitultrasonic pulses toward the sensor surface 1616 and remove anobstruction object 1604 therefrom. In some embodiments, both a first andsecond device 1650A, 1650B may be required to remove the obstructionobject 1604 from the sensor surface 1616. For instance, when theultrasonic pulses emitted by the first device 1650A intersect withultrasonic pulses emitted by the second device 1650B, the pulse strengthmay reach a level of intensity required to move the object 1604. In anyevent, the contactless sensor cleaning system 1603 is configured toremove the obstruction object 1604 without physically touching theobstruction object 1604 and/or sensor surface 1616.

In one embodiment, one or more of the arrays of transducers 1654 may bereplaced with one or more heating elements configured to heat the sensorarea of the sensor surface 1616 to remove a particular type ofobstruction object 1604 (e.g., ice, snow, hail, sleet, etc.) therefrom.

FIGS. 17A-17D show schematic plan and front views of a rotational-lenssensor cleaning system 1700A, 1700B (together 1700) of a vehicle 100 inaccordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Therotational-lens sensor cleaning system 1700 may correspond to the one ormore of the sensor cleaning systems 370 described above. Therotational-lens sensor cleaning system 1700 shows an obstruction object1604 at least partially obstructing a portion of the sensor surface1616. As illustrated in FIG. 17A, a representative sensor surface 1616is shown having a width 1602 and a height 1606 defining a sensor area ofat least one sensor surface 1616 of the vehicle 100. The sensor surface1616 may be associated with one or more of the sensors 112, 116A-K, 304,described above. The rotational-lens sensor cleaning system 1700 mayinclude a rotating lens 1708 configured to rotate about a rotationalaxis 1706. In some embodiments, the sensor surface 1616 may correspondto a portion of the rotating lens 1708 that protrudes, or is exposed,from an opening in a sensor mount wall 1712A, 1712B

FIG. 17A shows a schematic plan and front view of components of arotational-lens sensor cleaning system 1700A, 1700B of the vehicle 100in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. In someembodiments, the rotational-lens sensor cleaning system 1700A, 1700B mayinclude an internal sensor environment 1740 that is protected from anexterior environment 1738 (e.g., in an environment external to thevehicle 100, etc.) via at least one rotating lens 1708. The rotatinglens 1708 may be configure to rotate about an axis 1706 in a clockwiseand/or counterclockwise direction. In some embodiments, the rotatinglens 1708 may be configured as a circular wall of sensoremission-transmissive (e.g., light transmissive, energy transmissive,transparent, etc.) material disposed around the internal sensorenvironment and where the sensor is directed toward a portion of thecircular wall that is exposed to a sensing zone. In one embodiment, themovement of the rotating lens 1708 against a wiper portion of the leftwall 1712A and/or a wiper portion of the right wall 1712B of a sensorviewing opening may cause the obstruction object 1604 to be removed fromthe sensor cleaning area of the sensor. In some embodiments, therotating lens 1708 may move at least a portion of the lens 1708 into alens cleaning area 1716 behind the sensor viewing opening in the walls1712A, 1712B. The lens cleaning area 1716 may include a lens cleaningsystem 1720 comprising one or more of a pressurized-fluid unit 1724(e.g., that is similar, if not identical, to the pressurized-fluidsensor cleaning system 1601 described in conjunction with FIG. 16A), adrive wheel 1728, and/or a wiper blade 1732. The lens cleaning system1720 may wash a portion of the lens 1708 with the pressurized fluid asthe lens 1708 is rotated behind the wall 1712A, 1712B. In someembodiments, the drive wheel 1728 may include a sponge, cloth, or otherdebris removal surface. The drive wheel 1728 may be attached to a motoror other actuator configured to rotate the drive wheel 1728 and the lens1708. The wiper blade 1732 may be configured to contact the lens 1708and remove any water and/or material that remains on the lens 1708during a rotation thereby. In a 360-degree rotation, an obstructed lens1708 may be washed, cleaned of the obstruction, and wiped dry forpresentation in the sensor area.

FIG. 17B shows a schematic plan and front view of the rotational-lenssensor cleaning system 1700 in a first cleaning state 1701. In someembodiments, the first cleaning state 1701 may correspond to a point intime when an obstruction object 1604 is detected (e.g., in accordancewith the methods 1400, 1500 described above) in a sensor area of asensor.

FIG. 17C shows a second cleaning state 1702 for the rotational-lenssensor cleaning system 1700 upon receiving a cleaning message orcommand. For instance, the lens 1708 is rotating clockwise about therotational axis 1706 and a first portion 1604A of the obstruction object1604 is separated from a second portion 1604B of the obstruction object1604. The first portion 1604A may be the only portion of the obstructionobject 1604 that is on the lens 1708. The second portion 1604B mayremain on a wall (e.g., the right wall 1712B) of the sensor mountoutside the lens 1708 and sensor area. As shown in the schematic planview of FIG. 17C, the lens 1708 is moving (from right to left) along thearrow shown.

FIG. 17D shows a third cleaning state 1703 for the rotational-lenssensor cleaning system 1700 continuing to index the lens rotationallyabout the rotational axis 1706. As the lens 1708 continues to rotateclockwise about the rotational axis 1706 the first portion 1604A of theobstruction object 1604 continues to move further from the secondportion 1604B of the obstruction object 1604. In the schematic plan viewof FIG. 17D, the lens 1708 is continuing to move (from right to left)along the arrow shown. Once the lens 1708 rotates past the wall 1712A,the sensor area may be clean from obstruction.

FIGS. 18A-18C show schematic cross-sectional views of a sensor cleaningsystem 1800 in various cleaning states 1801-1803. The sensor cleaningsystem 1800 may include at least one sensor and sensor surface 1816mounted to an actuator 1820. The actuator 1820 may be configured to movethe sensor and sensor surface 1816 from an exposed, or sensing, positionto a concealed, or cleaning/protection, position via moving member 1824.In some embodiments, the actuator 1820 may be a solenoid, air/gascylinder, linear actuator, screw actuator, hydraulic cylinder, and/orother actuator configured to convert energy into motion. The sensorcleaning system 1800 may include a sensor mount or vehicle body wall1812A, 1812B having a sensor viewing window 1804 disposed therethrough.In some embodiments, the sensor and sensor surface 1816 may be exposedto the window 1804 to allow sensing and may be concealed behind aportion of the sensor cleaning system 1800 and/or window 1804 to cleanand/or protect the sensor and sensor surface 1816.

The sensor cleaning system 1800 may include at least one cleaning wiper1814A, 1814B pivotally arranged to clean the sensor and sensor surface1816 when retracted (e.g., moved behind the wall 1812A, 1812B. In somecases, the at least one cleaning wiper 1814A, 1814B may be operativelyconnected to a spring element 1818A, 1818B. The spring element 1818A,1818B may provide the force required to move the at least one cleaningwiper 1814A, 1814B against a portion of the sensor and sensor surface1816. This movement may clean an obstruction object from the sensor andsensor surface 1816 via a wiping action.

FIG. 18A shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the sensor cleaningsystem 1800 and a sensor 1816 of the vehicle 100 in a first cleaningstate 1801 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Inthe first cleaning state 1801, the actuator 1820 may position the sensorand sensor surface 1816 in an exposed, or sensing, position. In thisposition, the sensor and sensor surface 1816 may have an unobstructedviewing angle. In one embodiment, a portion of the at least one cleaningwiper 1814A, 1814B may be connected via a spring element 1818A, 1818B intension and connected to the wall 1812A, 1812B. The tension of thespring element 1818A, 1818B may provide a contact force of the at leastone cleaning wiper 1814A, 1814B against the sensor and sensor surface1816.

FIG. 18B shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the sensor cleaningsystem 1800 and a sensor 1816 of the vehicle 100 in a second cleaningstate 1802 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Inthe second cleaning state 1802, the sensor cleaning system 1800 may havereceived an instruction (e.g., as described above) to retract (e.g., ina direction indicated by the arrow of the moving member 1824) from theexposed, or sensing, position. As the sensor and sensor surface 1816retracts, via an actuation motion imparted by the actuator 1820, thetension of the spring elements 1818A, 1818B acting on the first andsecond cleaning wipers 1814A, 1814B moves the first and second cleaningwipers 1814A, 1814B about a pivot point (not shown). The movement of thefirst and second cleaning wipers 1814A, 1814B causes the sensor andsensor surface 1816 to be cleaned via a wiping or dragging action. Inthe second cleaning state 1802, a portion of the sensor and sensorsurface 1816 may be visible in the window 1804.

FIG. 18C shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the sensor cleaningsystem 1800 and a sensor 1816 of the vehicle 100 in a third cleaningstate 1803 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Inthe third cleaning state 1803, the sensor cleaning system 1800 hasretracted to its cleaned and/or concealed/protected position. In thisposition, any obstructive object on a portion of the sensor and sensorsurface 1816 has been wiped clean and the sensor and sensor surface 1816is protected behind the first and second cleaning wipers 1814A, 1814B.It is anticipated, that the sensor cleaning system 1800 described hereinmay protect a sensor 1816 from damage by retracting behind the first andsecond cleaning wipers 1814A, 1814B. In one embodiment, this retractionmay be caused by detecting an impending impact, etc. This action maycorrespond to a sensor blinking.

FIGS. 19A-19C show schematic cross-sectional views of a sensor cleaningsystem 1900 in various cleaning states 1901-1903. The sensor cleaningsystem 1900 may include at least one sensor and sensor surface 1816mounted to an actuator 1820. The actuator 1820 may be configured to movethe sensor and sensor surface 1816 from an exposed, or sensing, positionto a concealed, or cleaning/protection, position via moving member 1824.In some embodiments, the actuator 1820 may be a solenoid, air/gascylinder, linear actuator, screw actuator, hydraulic cylinder, and/orother actuator configured to convert energy into motion. The sensorcleaning system 1900 may include a sensor mount or vehicle body wall1912A, 1912B having a sensor viewing window 1904 disposed therethrough.In some embodiments, the sensor and sensor surface 1816 may be exposedto the window 1904 to allow sensing and may be concealed behind aportion of the sensor cleaning system 1900 and/or the window 1904 toclean and/or protect the sensor and sensor surface 1816.

The sensor cleaning system 1900 may include at least one flexiblecleaning wiper 1914A, 1914B that is configured to elastically bend abouta member 1916. The flexible cleaning wipers 1914A, 1914B may be made ofone or more compliant materials. Examples of compliant materials mayinclude, but are in no way limited to, rubber, plastic, silicone,polymers, neoprene, spring steel, etc., and/or combinations thereof. Theflexible cleaning wipers 1914A, 1914B may be portions of a single pieceof flexible material that is split at an area of the sensor 1816. Forexample, the split may correspond to one or more cuts in the flexiblematerial separating the single piece of material into two or moreflexible cleaning wipers 1914A, 1914B. In some embodiments, the member1916 may be a ring, hole, cutout, or other structure behind the sensormount or vehicle body wall 1912A, 1912B. As the flexible cleaning wiper1914A, 1914B is deflected (e.g., elastically deforms) between the member1916 and the sensor and sensor surface 1816, a first flexible cleaningwiper 1914A may separate from a second cleaning wiper 1914B. As thesensor and sensor surface 1816 is retracted from the window 1904, thefirst and second flexible cleaning wipers 1914A, 1914B may return to anundeflected, or less-deflected, state. In the less-deflected state, aportion of the flexible cleaning wipers 1914A, 1914B (e.g., wiper tips1918A, 1918B) may contact a portion of the sensor and sensor surface1816. This movement may clean an obstruction object from the sensor andsensor surface 1816 via a wiping action.

FIG. 19A shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the sensor cleaningsystem 1900 and a sensor 1816 of the vehicle 100 in a first cleaningstate 1901 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Inthe first cleaning state 1901, the actuator 1820 may position the sensorand sensor surface 1816 in an exposed, or sensing, position. In thisposition, the sensor and sensor surface 1816 may have an unobstructedviewing angle. In one embodiment, a portion of the flexible cleaningwipers 1914A, 1914B may be elastically deformed, or deflected, against aportion of the window 1904.

FIG. 19B shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the sensor cleaningsystem 1900 and a sensor 1816 of the vehicle 100 in a second cleaningstate 1902 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Inthe second cleaning state 1902, the sensor cleaning system 1900 may havereceived an instruction (e.g., as described above) to retract (e.g., ina direction indicated by the arrow of the moving member 1824) from theexposed, or sensing, position. As the sensor and sensor surface 1816retracts, via an actuation motion imparted by the actuator 1820, theelasticity of the flexible cleaning wipers 1914A, 1914B causes thewipers 1914A, 1914B to follow the movement of the sensor and sensorsurface 1816. This movement of the wipers 1914A, 1914B causes the sensorand sensor surface 1816 to be cleaned via a wiping or dragging action ofa portion (e.g., the wiping portion 1918A, 1918B, etc.) of the wipers1914A, 1914B contacting the surface 1816. In the second cleaning state1902, a portion of the sensor and sensor surface 1816 may still bevisible in the window 1904.

FIG. 19C shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the sensor cleaningsystem 1900 and a sensor 1816 of the vehicle 100 in a third cleaningstate 1903 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Inthe third cleaning state 1903, the sensor cleaning system 1900 hasretracted to its cleaned and/or concealed/protected position. In thisposition, any obstructive object on a portion of the sensor and sensorsurface 1816 has been wiped clean and the sensor and sensor surface 1816is protected behind the first and second flexible cleaning wipers 1914A,1914B. It is anticipated, that the sensor cleaning system 1900 describedherein may protect a sensor 1816 from damage by retracting behind thefirst and second flexible cleaning wipers 1914A, 1914B. In oneembodiment, this retraction may be caused by detecting an impendingimpact, etc.

Any of the steps, functions, and operations discussed herein can beperformed continuously and automatically.

The exemplary systems and methods of this disclosure have been describedin relation to vehicle systems and electric vehicles. However, to avoidunnecessarily obscuring the present disclosure, the precedingdescription omits a number of known structures and devices. Thisomission is not to be construed as a limitation of the scope of theclaimed disclosure. Specific details are set forth to provide anunderstanding of the present disclosure. It should, however, beappreciated that the present disclosure may be practiced in a variety ofways beyond the specific detail set forth herein.

Furthermore, while the exemplary embodiments illustrated herein show thevarious components of the system collocated, certain components of thesystem can be located remotely, at distant portions of a distributednetwork, such as a LAN and/or the Internet, or within a dedicatedsystem. Thus, it should be appreciated, that the components of thesystem can be combined into one or more devices, such as a server,communication device, or collocated on a particular node of adistributed network, such as an analog and/or digital telecommunicationsnetwork, a packet-switched network, or a circuit-switched network. Itwill be appreciated from the preceding description, and for reasons ofcomputational efficiency, that the components of the system can bearranged at any location within a distributed network of componentswithout affecting the operation of the system.

Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various links connectingthe elements can be wired or wireless links, or any combination thereof,or any other known or later developed element(s) that is capable ofsupplying and/or communicating data to and from the connected elements.These wired or wireless links can also be secure links and may becapable of communicating encrypted information. Transmission media usedas links, for example, can be any suitable carrier for electricalsignals, including coaxial cables, copper wire, and fiber optics, andmay take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generatedduring radio-wave and infra-red data communications.

While the flowcharts have been discussed and illustrated in relation toa particular sequence of events, it should be appreciated that changes,additions, and omissions to this sequence can occur without materiallyaffecting the operation of the disclosed embodiments, configuration, andaspects.

A number of variations and modifications of the disclosure can be used.It would be possible to provide for some features of the disclosurewithout providing others.

In yet another embodiment, the systems and methods of this disclosurecan be implemented in conjunction with a special purpose computer, aprogrammed microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integratedcircuit element(s), an ASIC or other integrated circuit, a digitalsignal processor, a hard-wired electronic or logic circuit such asdiscrete element circuit, a programmable logic device or gate array suchas PLD, PLA, FPGA, PAL, special purpose computer, any comparable means,or the like. In general, any device(s) or means capable of implementingthe methodology illustrated herein can be used to implement the variousaspects of this disclosure. Exemplary hardware that can be used for thepresent disclosure includes computers, handheld devices, telephones(e.g., cellular, Internet enabled, digital, analog, hybrids, andothers), and other hardware known in the art. Some of these devicesinclude processors (e.g., a single or multiple microprocessors), memory,nonvolatile storage, input devices, and output devices. Furthermore,alternative software implementations including, but not limited to,distributed processing or component/object distributed processing,parallel processing, or virtual machine processing can also beconstructed to implement the methods described herein.

In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be readilyimplemented in conjunction with software using object or object-orientedsoftware development environments that provide portable source code thatcan be used on a variety of computer or workstation platforms.Alternatively, the disclosed system may be implemented partially orfully in hardware using standard logic circuits or VLSI design. Whethersoftware or hardware is used to implement the systems in accordance withthis disclosure is dependent on the speed and/or efficiency requirementsof the system, the particular function, and the particular software orhardware systems or microprocessor or microcomputer systems beingutilized.

In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be partiallyimplemented in software that can be stored on a storage medium, executedon programmed general-purpose computer with the cooperation of acontroller and memory, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, orthe like. In these instances, the systems and methods of this disclosurecan be implemented as a program embedded on a personal computer such asan applet, JAVA® or CGI script, as a resource residing on a server orcomputer workstation, as a routine embedded in a dedicated measurementsystem, system component, or the like. The system can also beimplemented by physically incorporating the system and/or method into asoftware and/or hardware system.

Although the present disclosure describes components and functionsimplemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standardsand protocols, the disclosure is not limited to such standards andprotocols. Other similar standards and protocols not mentioned hereinare in existence and are considered to be included in the presentdisclosure. Moreover, the standards and protocols mentioned herein andother similar standards and protocols not mentioned herein areperiodically superseded by faster or more effective equivalents havingessentially the same functions. Such replacement standards and protocolshaving the same functions are considered equivalents included in thepresent disclosure.

The present disclosure, in various embodiments, configurations, andaspects, includes components, methods, processes, systems and/orapparatus substantially as depicted and described herein, includingvarious embodiments, subcombinations, and subsets thereof. Those ofskill in the art will understand how to make and use the systems andmethods disclosed herein after understanding the present disclosure. Thepresent disclosure, in various embodiments, configurations, and aspects,includes providing devices and processes in the absence of items notdepicted and/or described herein or in various embodiments,configurations, or aspects hereof, including in the absence of suchitems as may have been used in previous devices or processes, e.g., forimproving performance, achieving ease, and/or reducing cost ofimplementation.

The foregoing discussion of the disclosure has been presented forpurposes of illustration and description. The foregoing is not intendedto limit the disclosure to the form or forms disclosed herein. In theforegoing Detailed Description for example, various features of thedisclosure are grouped together in one or more embodiments,configurations, or aspects for the purpose of streamlining thedisclosure. The features of the embodiments, configurations, or aspectsof the disclosure may be combined in alternate embodiments,configurations, or aspects other than those discussed above. This methodof disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention thatthe claimed disclosure requires more features than are expressly recitedin each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventiveaspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosedembodiment, configuration, or aspect. Thus, the following claims arehereby incorporated into this Detailed Description, with each claimstanding on its own as a separate preferred embodiment of thedisclosure.

Moreover, though the description of the disclosure has includeddescription of one or more embodiments, configurations, or aspects andcertain variations and modifications, other variations, combinations,and modifications are within the scope of the disclosure, e.g., as maybe within the skill and knowledge of those in the art, afterunderstanding the present disclosure. It is intended to obtain rights,which include alternative embodiments, configurations, or aspects to theextent permitted, including alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalentstructures, functions, ranges, or steps to those claimed, whether or notsuch alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions,ranges, or steps are disclosed herein, and without intending to publiclydedicate any patentable subject matter.

Embodiments include a method, comprising: receiving, via a processor,output from sensors of a vehicle monitoring an environment around aportion of the vehicle; determining, via the processor, a first outputover time for a first sensor of the sensors of the vehicle; determining,via the processor, a second output over time for a second sensor ofsensors of the vehicle; identifying, via the processor and based onsensor information in the first output over time and the second outputover time, an obstructed sensor from at least one of the first sensorand/or the second sensor; and sending, via the processor, a messageincluding information about the obstructed sensor to one or more devicesof the vehicle.

Aspects of the above method include wherein the message instructs asensor cleaning system of the vehicle to clean the obstructed sensoridentified. Aspects of the above method include wherein the sensorinformation in the first output over time includes a time of flightdefining a time for a detection signal emitted by the first sensor to bedetected by the first sensor. Aspects of the above method includewherein a time of flight minimum threshold is defined as an amount oftime for the first sensor to detect a target at a periphery of a body ofthe vehicle, and wherein the first sensor is identified as theobstructed sensor based on the time of flight in the first output overtime being less than the time of flight minimum threshold. Aspects ofthe above method include wherein identifying the obstructed sensorfurther comprises: determining, via the processor, that the first sensorand the second sensor are a same type of sensor; comparing, via theprocessor, the first output over time to the second output over time;and determining, via the processor, at least one difference between thefirst output over time and the second output over time. Aspects of theabove method further comprise: determining, via the processor, a thirdoutput over time for a third sensor of the sensors of the vehicle,wherein the third sensor is a different type of sensor from the firstand second sensors; comparing, via the processor, detectioncharacteristics of the third output over time to detectioncharacteristics for each of the first output over time and the secondoutput over time; and determining, via the processor, the obstructedsensor is at least one of the first sensor and/or the second sensor whenthe detection characteristics of the third output over time fail tomatch the detection characteristics for the first output over timeand/or the second output over time. Aspects of the above method includewherein the first sensor is an imaging sensor and the first output overtime includes first computer-generated images of the environment aroundthe portion of the vehicle over time, and wherein the second sensor isan imaging sensor and the second output over time includes secondcomputer-generated images of the environment around the portion of thevehicle over time. Aspects of the above method include whereinidentifying the obstructed sensor further comprises: determining, viathe processor, a position and size for targets in the first and secondcomputer-generated images over time, wherein the targets representobjects in the environment around the portion of the vehicle. Aspects ofthe above method include wherein identifying the obstructed sensorfurther comprises: determining, via the processor, the obstructed sensoris one of the first sensor or the second sensor when at least one of thetargets in one of the first and second computer-generated images overtime is not present in the other of the first and secondcomputer-generated images over time. Aspects of the above method includewherein identifying the obstructed sensor further comprises:determining, via the processor and based on the position and size forthe targets, a predicted position and size for the targets at asubsequent time. Aspects of the above method include wherein identifyingthe obstructed sensor further comprises: determining, via the processor,a subsequent position and size for the targets in subsequent first andsecond computer-generated images over time; and determining, via theprocessor, the obstructed sensor is at least one of the first sensorand/or the second sensor when the subsequent position and size for thetargets in subsequent first and/or second computer-generated images overtime fail to match the predicted position and size for the targets atthe subsequent time.

Embodiments include a vehicle, comprising: at least one sensor; amicroprocessor coupled to the at least one sensor; and a computerreadable medium coupled to the microprocessor and comprisinginstructions stored thereon that cause the microprocessor to: receiveoutput from the at least one sensor monitoring an environment around aportion of the vehicle; determine a first output over time for a firstsensor of the at least one sensor; determine a second output over timefor a second sensor of the at least one sensor; identify, based onsensor information in the first output over time and the second outputover time, an obstructed sensor from at least one of the first sensorand/or the second sensor; and send a message including information aboutthe obstructed sensor to one or more devices of the vehicle.

Aspects of the above vehicle further comprise: a sensor cleaning systemincluding one or more components that clean the at least one sensor ofthe vehicle, and wherein the message is sent to the sensor cleaningsystem to clean the obstructed sensor identified. Aspects of the abovevehicle include wherein the sensor information in the first output overtime includes a time of flight defining a time for a detection signalemitted by the first sensor to be detected by the first sensor. Aspectsof the above vehicle include wherein a time of flight minimum thresholdis defined as an amount of time for the first sensor to detect a targetat a periphery of a body of the vehicle, and wherein the first sensor isidentified as the obstructed sensor based on the time of flight in thefirst output over time being less than the time of flight minimumthreshold. Aspects of the above vehicle include wherein the first sensoris an imaging sensor and the first output over time includes firstcomputer-generated images of the environment around the portion of thevehicle over time, and wherein the second sensor is an imaging sensorand the second output over time includes second computer-generatedimages of the environment around the portion of the vehicle over time.Aspects of the above vehicle include wherein in identifying theobstructed sensor the instructions further cause the microprocessor to:determine a position and size for targets in the first and secondcomputer-generated images over time, wherein the targets representobjects in the environment around the portion of the vehicle; anddetermine the obstructed sensor is one of the first sensor or the secondsensor when at least one of the targets in one of the first and secondcomputer-generated images over time is not present in the other of thefirst and second computer-generated images over time.

Embodiments include a device, comprising: a microprocessor; and acomputer readable medium coupled to the microprocessor and comprisinginstructions stored thereon that cause the microprocessor to: receiveoutput from sensors of a vehicle monitoring an environment around aportion of the vehicle; determine a first output over time for a firstsensor of the sensors of the vehicle; determine a second output overtime for a second sensor of sensors of the vehicle; identify, based onsensor information in the first output over time and the second outputover time, an obstructed sensor from at least one of the first sensorand/or the second sensor; and send a message including information aboutthe obstructed sensor to one or more devices of the vehicle.

Aspects of the above device include wherein the message instructs asensor cleaning system of the vehicle to clean the obstructed sensoridentified. Aspects of the above device include wherein the instructionscause the microprocessor to render at least a portion of the informationabout the obstructed sensor to a display device of the vehicle.

Embodiments include a sensor cleaning system, comprising: at least onesensor cleaning device including an obstruction cleaning element; amicroprocessor; and a computer readable medium coupled to themicroprocessor and comprising instructions stored thereon that cause themicroprocessor to: communicate with a sensor processor of a vehicle,wherein the sensor processor receives output from sensors of the vehiclemonitoring an environment outside of the vehicle; receive a cleaningcommand from the sensor processor identifying a sensor of the vehiclehaving an obstructed sensor surface; determine a sensor cleaning deviceassociated with the identified sensor from the at least one sensorcleaning device; and send an electrical signal to the determined sensorcleaning device associated with the identified sensor, wherein theelectrical signal actuates the obstruction cleaning element of thedetermined sensor cleaning device.

Aspects of the above sensor cleaning system include wherein thedetermined sensor cleaning device is a pressurized-fluid sensor cleaningdevice, comprising: a fluid-directing nozzle configured to direct apressurized fluid toward the obstructed sensor surface of the identifiedsensor; a fluid supply configured to contain the pressurized fluid; anda fluid line operatively attached between the fluid-directing nozzle andthe fluid supply, wherein the fluid line is configured to conveypressurized fluid from the fluid supply to the fluid-directing nozzle.Aspects of the above sensor cleaning system include wherein thepressurized fluid is a gas, and wherein the fluid supply comprises acompressor. Aspects of the above sensor cleaning system include whereinthe determined sensor cleaning device is an actuated-wiper sensorcleaning device, comprising: a track disposed adjacent to the identifiedsensor; a carriage configured to move along a length of the track; awiper blade operatively connected to the carriage and configured to movewith the carriage; and an actuator configured to convert the electricalsignal sent by the microprocessor into a mechanical motion of thecarriage along the length of the track and causing the wiper blade tocontact a portion of the sensor surface and clear the obstruction.Aspects of the above sensor cleaning system include wherein thedetermined sensor cleaning device is a contactless sensor cleaningdevice, comprising: a first array of ultrasonic transducers disposedadjacent to the identified sensor, wherein each ultrasonic transducer inthe first array of ultrasonic transducers is configured to selectivelyemit first ultrasonic pulses toward the obstructed sensor surface of theidentified sensor. Aspects of the above sensor cleaning system furthercomprise: a second array of ultrasonic transducers disposed adjacent tothe identified sensor and orthogonal to the first array of ultrasonictransducers, wherein each ultrasonic transducer in the second array ofultrasonic transducers is configured to selectively emit secondultrasonic pulses toward the obstructed sensor surface of the identifiedsensor, and wherein a force of the first ultrasonic pulses and thesecond ultrasonic pulses is multiplied at an intersection of first andsecond ultrasonic pulses emitted. Aspects of the above sensor cleaningsystem include wherein the determined sensor cleaning device is arotational-lens sensor cleaning device, comprising: a lens having asubstantially circular outer periphery and a hollow internal portiondefining an interior sensor environment configured to receive at leastone sensor of the vehicle, and wherein the obstructed sensor surface ison a portion of the circular outer periphery of the lens; a motorizedrotation drive wheel operatively connected to the lens and configured torotate the lens about an axis of rotation; and at least one wipingelement in contact with the circular outer periphery of the lens,wherein the lens is configured to rotate relative to the at least onewiping element. Aspects of the above sensor cleaning system includewherein a portion of the rotational-lens sensor cleaning device isdisposed inside a body of the vehicle, and wherein the at least onewiping element is attached to the body of the vehicle. Aspects of theabove sensor cleaning system include further comprise: a lens cleaningsystem, comprising: a pressurized-fluid nozzle configured to direct apressurized fluid toward the lens; and a debris removal surface disposedadjacent to the pressurized-fluid nozzle and in contact with the lens.Aspects of the above sensor cleaning system include wherein thedetermined sensor cleaning device comprises: at least one wiping elementin contact with the sensor surface of the identified sensor; and anactuator attached to a portion of the identified sensor and configuredto move the portion of the identified sensor relative to the at leastone wiping element, the actuator having an extended sensor position anda retracted sensor position, and wherein the at least one wiping elementis configured to move across a portion of the sensor surface of theidentified sensors as the actuator moves between the extended sensorposition and the retracted sensor position. Aspects of the above sensorcleaning system include wherein the at least one wiping element pivotsabout an axis as the actuator moves between the extended sensor positionand the retracted sensor position. Aspects of the above sensor cleaningsystem include wherein the at least one wiping element is maintained incontact with the sensor surface of the identified sensor via a forcefrom a spring element connected between the at least one wiping elementand a fixed wall. Aspects of the above sensor cleaning system includewherein in the retracted sensor position the identified sensor isprotected from an exterior environment associated with the vehicle bythe at least one wiping elements. Aspects of the above sensor cleaningsystem include wherein the at least one wiping element is a flexiblematerial that is configured to elastically deform and create an openingtherein exposing a viewing portion of the identified sensor when theactuator is in the extended sensor position and conceal the viewingportion of the identified sensor when the actuator is in the retractedsensor position.

Embodiments include a vehicle, comprising: at least one sensormonitoring an environment outside of the vehicle; and a sensor cleaningsystem, comprising: at least one sensor cleaning device of the vehicleincluding an obstruction cleaning element; a microprocessor; and acomputer readable medium coupled to the microprocessor and comprisinginstructions stored thereon that cause the microprocessor to:communicate with a sensor processor of the vehicle, wherein the sensorprocessor receives output from the at least one sensor of the vehicle;receive a cleaning command from the sensor processor identifying asensor of the at least one sensor of the vehicle having an obstructedsensor surface; determining a sensor cleaning device associated with theidentified sensor from the at least one sensor cleaning device; andsending an electrical signal to the determined sensor cleaning deviceassociated with the identified sensor, wherein the electrical signalactuates the obstruction cleaning element of the determined sensorcleaning device.

Aspects of the above vehicle include wherein the determined sensorcleaning device is a contactless sensor cleaning device, comprising: afirst array of ultrasonic transducers disposed adjacent to theidentified sensor, wherein each ultrasonic transducer in the first arrayof ultrasonic transducers is configured to selectively emit firstultrasonic pulses toward the obstructed sensor surface of the identifiedsensor. Aspects of the above vehicle include wherein the determinedsensor cleaning device is a rotational-lens sensor cleaning device,comprising: a lens having a substantially circular outer periphery and ahollow internal portion defining an interior sensor environmentconfigured to receive the one or more sensors of the vehicle, andwherein the obstructed sensor surface is on a portion of the circularouter periphery of the lens; a motorized rotation drive wheeloperatively connected to the lens and configured to rotate the lensabout an axis of rotation; and at least one wiping element in contactwith the circular outer periphery of the lens, wherein the lens isconfigured to rotate relative to the at least one wiping element.Aspects of the above vehicle include wherein the determined sensorcleaning device comprises: at least one wiping element in contact withthe sensor surface of the identified sensor; and an actuator attached toa portion of the identified sensor and configured to move the portion ofthe identified sensor relative to the at least one wiping element, theactuator having an extended sensor position and a retracted sensorposition, and wherein the at least one wiping element is configured tomove across a portion of the sensor surface of the identified sensors asthe actuator moves between the extended sensor position and theretracted sensor position. Aspects of the above vehicle include whereina viewing portion of the identified sensor is exposed to an environmentexternal to the vehicle when the actuator is in the extended sensorposition and wherein the viewing portion of the identified sensor isconcealed from the environment external to the vehicle when the actuatoris in the retracted sensor position.

Embodiments include a sensor cleaning device of a vehicle, comprising:at least one vehicle sensor cleaning element; a microprocessor; and acomputer readable medium coupled to the microprocessor and comprisinginstructions stored thereon that cause the microprocessor to: receive anelectrical signal from a sensor cleaning system of a vehicle, whereinthe electrical signal actuates the at least one vehicle sensor cleaningelement; determine whether the at least one vehicle sensor cleaningelement actuated; and send a message to the sensor cleaning system ofthe vehicle including information about the determination.

Any one or more of the aspects/embodiments as substantially disclosedherein.

Any one or more of the aspects/embodiments as substantially disclosedherein optionally in combination with any one or more otheraspects/embodiments as substantially disclosed herein.

One or means adapted to perform any one or more of the aboveaspects/embodiments as substantially disclosed herein.

The phrases “at least one,” “one or more,” “or,” and “and/or” areopen-ended expressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive inoperation. For example, each of the expressions “at least one of A, Band C,” “at least one of A, B, or C,” “one or more of A, B, and C,” “oneor more of A, B, or C,” “A, B, and/or C,” and “A, B, or C” means Aalone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, or A, B and C together.

The term “a” or “an” entity refers to one or more of that entity. Assuch, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more,” and “at least one” can beused interchangeably herein. It is also to be noted that the terms“comprising,” “including,” and “having” can be used interchangeably.

The term “automatic” and variations thereof, as used herein, refers toany process or operation, which is typically continuous orsemi-continuous, done without material human input when the process oroperation is performed. However, a process or operation can beautomatic, even though performance of the process or operation usesmaterial or immaterial human input, if the input is received beforeperformance of the process or operation. Human input is deemed to bematerial if such input influences how the process or operation will beperformed. Human input that consents to the performance of the processor operation is not deemed to be “material.”

Aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of an embodimentthat is entirely hardware, an embodiment that is entirely software(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module,” or “system.”Any combination of one or more computer-readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable signalmedium or a computer-readable storage medium.

A computer-readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limitedto, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combinationof the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of thecomputer-readable storage medium would include the following: anelectrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computerdiskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory(ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flashmemory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory(CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or anysuitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document,a computer-readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that cancontain or store a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

A computer-readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer-readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer-readable signal medium may be any computer-readable medium thatis not a computer-readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program codeembodied on a computer-readable medium may be transmitted using anyappropriate medium, including, but not limited to, wireless, wireline,optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of theforegoing.

The terms “determine,” “calculate,” “compute,” and variations thereof,as used herein, are used interchangeably and include any type ofmethodology, process, mathematical operation or technique.

The term “electric vehicle” (EV), also referred to herein as an electricdrive vehicle, may use one or more electric motors or traction motorsfor propulsion. An electric vehicle may be powered through a collectorsystem by electricity from off-vehicle sources, or may be self-containedwith a battery or generator to convert fuel to electricity. An electricvehicle generally includes a rechargeable electricity storage system(RESS) (also called Full Electric Vehicles (FEV)). Power storage methodsmay include: chemical energy stored on the vehicle in on-board batteries(e.g., battery electric vehicle or BEV), on board kinetic energy storage(e.g., flywheels), and/or static energy (e.g., by on-board double-layercapacitors). Batteries, electric double-layer capacitors, and flywheelenergy storage may be forms of rechargeable on-board electrical storage.

The term “hybrid electric vehicle” refers to a vehicle that may combinea conventional (usually fossil fuel-powered) powertrain with some formof electric propulsion. Most hybrid electric vehicles combine aconventional internal combustion engine (ICE) propulsion system with anelectric propulsion system (hybrid vehicle drivetrain). In parallelhybrids, the ICE and the electric motor are both connected to themechanical transmission and can simultaneously transmit power to drivethe wheels, usually through a conventional transmission. In serieshybrids, only the electric motor drives the drivetrain, and a smallerICE works as a generator to power the electric motor or to recharge thebatteries. Power-split hybrids combine series and parallelcharacteristics. A full hybrid, sometimes also called a strong hybrid,is a vehicle that can run on just the engine, just the batteries, or acombination of both. A mid hybrid is a vehicle that cannot be drivensolely on its electric motor, because the electric motor does not haveenough power to propel the vehicle on its own.

The term “rechargeable electric vehicle” or “REV” refers to a vehiclewith on board rechargeable energy storage, including electric vehiclesand hybrid electric vehicles.

What is claimed is:
 1. A sensor cleaning system, comprising: at leastone sensor cleaning device including an obstruction cleaning element; amicroprocessor; and a computer readable medium coupled to themicroprocessor and comprising instructions stored thereon that cause themicroprocessor to: communicate with a sensor processor of a vehicle,wherein the sensor processor receives output from sensors of the vehiclemonitoring an environment outside of the vehicle, the sensors of thevehicle comprising a first sensor and a second sensor configured toprovide a substantially similar output over time when the first sensorand second sensor are in an unobstructed state, the substantiallysimilar output comprising target characteristics of a plurality oftargets in the environment outside of the vehicle that are visible tothe first sensor and the second sensor in the unobstructed state;determine a difference between an output from the first sensor over ameasured period of time compared to an output from the second sensorover the measured period of time, wherein the output from the firstsensor over the measured period of time comprises changes in the targetcharacteristics of the plurality of targets, and wherein the output fromthe second sensor over the measured period of time does not include thechanges in the target characteristics of the plurality of targets;receive, based on the determined difference, a cleaning command from thesensor processor identifying the second sensor of the vehicle as havingan obstructed sensor surface; determine a sensor cleaning deviceassociated with the second sensor from the at least one sensor cleaningdevice; and send an electrical signal to the determined sensor cleaningdevice associated with the second sensor, wherein the electrical signalactuates the obstruction cleaning element of the determined sensorcleaning device.
 2. The sensor cleaning system of claim 1, wherein thedetermined sensor cleaning device is a pressurized-fluid sensor cleaningdevice, comprising: a fluid-directing nozzle configured to direct apressurized fluid toward the obstructed sensor surface of the secondsensor; a fluid supply configured to contain the pressurized fluid; anda fluid line operatively attached between the fluid-directing nozzle andthe fluid supply, wherein the fluid line is configured to conveypressurized fluid from the fluid supply to the fluid-directing nozzle.3. The sensor cleaning system of claim 2, wherein the pressurized fluidis a gas, and wherein the fluid supply comprises a compressor.
 4. Thesensor cleaning system of claim 1, wherein the determined sensorcleaning device is an actuated-wiper sensor cleaning device, comprising:a track disposed adjacent to the second sensor; a carriage configured tomove along a length of the track; a wiper blade operatively connected tothe carriage and configured to move with the carriage; and an actuatorconfigured to convert the electrical signal sent by the microprocessorinto a mechanical motion of the carriage along the length of the trackand causing the wiper blade to contact a portion of the obstructedsensor surface and clear the obstruction.
 5. The sensor cleaning systemof claim 1, wherein the determined sensor cleaning device is acontactless sensor cleaning device, comprising: a first array ofultrasonic transducers disposed adjacent to the second sensor, whereineach ultrasonic transducer in the first array of ultrasonic transducersis configured to selectively emit first ultrasonic pulses toward theobstructed sensor surface of the second sensor.
 6. The sensor cleaningsystem of claim 5, further comprising: a second array of ultrasonictransducers disposed adjacent to the second sensor and orthogonal to thefirst array of ultrasonic transducers, wherein each ultrasonictransducer in the second array of ultrasonic transducers is configuredto selectively emit second ultrasonic pulses toward the obstructedsensor surface of the second sensor, and wherein a force of the firstultrasonic pulses and the second ultrasonic pulses is multiplied at anintersection of first and second ultrasonic pulses emitted.
 7. Thesensor cleaning system of claim 1, wherein the determined sensorcleaning device is a rotational-lens sensor cleaning device, comprising:a lens having a substantially circular outer periphery and a hollowinternal portion defining an interior sensor environment configured toreceive at least one sensor of the vehicle, and wherein the obstructedsensor surface is on a portion of the circular outer periphery of thelens; a motorized rotation drive wheel operatively connected to the lensand configured to rotate the lens about an axis of rotation; and atleast one wiping element in contact with the circular outer periphery ofthe lens, wherein the lens is configured to rotate relative to the atleast one wiping element.
 8. The sensor cleaning system of claim 7,wherein a portion of the rotational-lens sensor cleaning device isdisposed inside a body of the vehicle, and wherein the at least onewiping element is attached to the body of the vehicle.
 9. The sensorcleaning system of claim 8, further comprising: a lens cleaning system,comprising: a pressurized-fluid nozzle configured to direct apressurized fluid toward the lens; and a debris removal surface disposedadjacent to the pressurized-fluid nozzle and in contact with the lens.10. The sensor cleaning system of claim 1, wherein the determined sensorcleaning device comprises: at least one wiping element in contact withthe obstructed sensor surface of the second sensor; and an actuatorattached to a portion of the second sensor and configured to move theportion of the second sensor relative to the at least one wipingelement, the actuator having an extended sensor position and a retractedsensor position, and wherein the at least one wiping element isconfigured to move across a portion of the obstructed sensor surface ofthe second sensor as the actuator moves between the extended sensorposition and the retracted sensor position.
 11. The sensor cleaningsystem of claim 10, wherein the at least one wiping element pivots aboutan axis as the actuator moves between the extended sensor position andthe retracted sensor position.
 12. The sensor cleaning system of claim11, wherein the at least one wiping element is maintained in contactwith the obstructed sensor surface of the second sensor via a force froma spring element connected between the at least one wiping element and afixed wall.
 13. The sensor cleaning system of claim 12, wherein in theretracted sensor position the second sensor is protected from anexterior environment associated with the vehicle by the at least onewiping elements.
 14. The sensor cleaning system of claim 10, wherein theat least one wiping element is a flexible material that is configured toelastically deform and create an opening therein exposing a viewingportion of the second sensor when the actuator is in the extended sensorposition and conceal the viewing portion of the second sensor when theactuator is in the retracted sensor position.